Latest News

3Novices:Greece evacuates squalid Idomeni migrant camp

IDOMENI // Hundreds of Greek police began clearing the overcrowded camp at Idomeni on Tuesday, a place where thousands of desperate refugees have been living for months in squalid conditions.

The overcrowded and muddy camp on the Macedonia border has become a potent symbol of the human suffering and chaos of Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II.

In an operation that began shortly after sunrise, Greek police put more than 1,000 people on buses to newly-opened camps near Greece's second city Thessaloniki, about 80 kilometres to the south.

"The operation ... is taking place slowly and in a calm atmosphere. There has not been any need to use force," said government migration spokesman Yiorgos Kyritsis.

Most media were kept at a distance, but footage and images handed out by state television ERT and state agency ANA, who were allowed access, showed refugees queuing up to board buses and being driven away, some waving at the camera.

Many carried their worldly goods in huge bin bags, while others piled belongings into pushchairs, watched at a distance by groups of dark blue-clad police in white helmets.

A group of children - one of them a young boy who struggled over the bumpy ground in a wheelchair - played nearby as they waited for their turn to leave.

Authorities said priority would be given to unaccompanied minors and single-parent families.

The transfer comes after a brutal winter of freezing rain and mud which saw many people trying to force their way across the border, sometimes resulting in violent encounters with the Macedonian police.

Around midday, bulldozers moved in to clear out tents, according to activists at the camp.

Many in the camp are fleeing war, persecution and poverty in the Middle East and Asia.

Médecins Sans Frontières representative Vicky Markolefa said there was "high insecurity" and "an increase in stress" for the refugees who are "not fully aware of where they are going and what will come for them in the next days".

In Geneva, the UN refugee agency said it was sending additional staff to help the process.

"It's important that organised movements are voluntary, non-discriminatory, and based on well-informed choices by the individuals at the moment," said UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards.

However, Ms Markolefa noted that a police cordon thrown around the camp - mainly to keep media out - had also prevented access for many humanitarian workers.

"This complicates food handout efforts and sanitation maintenance for those who will remain in the camp," she said.

At its population height, more than 12,000 people were crammed into Idomeni. The camp was originally opened by aid groups last year to accommodate just 2,500 people during what was, at the time, a short procedure to cross the border.

But the camp exploded in size after Balkan states began closing their borders in mid-February to stem the human tide seeking passage to northern Europe.

On Monday, Mr Kyritsis, the Greek government migration spokesman, said the operation to clear all 8,400 people living there would take at least 10 days.

Officials have said 6,000 spots are available at reception centres, and that most of the migrants are to be moved to camps at former industrial facilities near Thessaloniki.

Many of the camp's residents are women and children desperate to be reunited with male relatives who have forged ahead on their own, with the aid of smugglers, hoping to find a place of refuge for their families in EU states more financially viable than debt-hit Greece.

The leftist government of Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has for months been trying to persuade refugees to move away from makeshift tent encampments at Idomeni and at the port of Piraeus for their own comfort and safety.

Over the past two weeks, Greek officials have managed to convince some 2,500 people to leave Idomeni, while the number at Piraeus was brought down from around 5,000 people in March to 1,500.

But many are wary of relocating to organised camps away from the border or Athens, because it could be harder to find people-smuggling contacts.

There are over 54,000 refugees stranded in Greece, according to government estimates.

* Agence France-Presse



http://ift.tt/20w6UKP
3Novices Europe

No comments:

Post a Comment

Designed by 3Novices Copyright ©2011-2015

Theme images by Bim. Powered by Blogger.