By Associated Press April 17 at 5:37 AM
The Washington Post
THESSALONIKI, Greece — Greek authorities say hundreds of refugees and other migrants have crossed the land border with Turkey in the past two days, with illegal crossings in the area increasing significantly following Turkey’s military operation in northern Syria.
Police said Tuesday they detained 370 people the previous day who had crossed the Evros River, which forms a natural border between Greece and Turkey, and another 140 people on Sunday.
The land route from Turkey into northeastern Greece has become increasingly popular as conditions deteriorate on Greek islands, long the preferred route, where strict controls are now imposed on movement and camps are overcrowded.
Authorities have noted a surge in arrivals across the Evros, with 1,658 people detained in March compared to 586 in February and 262 in March 2017.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Showing posts with label Refugees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Refugees. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Refugees in Greece demand transfer to Germany, start hunger strike
NOVEMBER 1, 2017 / 3:35 PM / UPDATED 18 HOURS AGO
Karolina Tagaris, Deborah Kyvrikosaios
3 MIN READ
ATHENS (Reuters) - A group of mainly Syrian women and children who have been stranded in Greece pitched tents opposite parliament in Athens on Wednesday in a protest against delays in reuniting with relatives in Germany.
Some of the refugees, who say they have been in Greece for over a year, said they had begun a hunger strike.
“Our family ties our stronger than your illegal agreements,” read a banner held up by one woman, referring to deals on refugees between European Union nations.
Karolina Tagaris, Deborah Kyvrikosaios
3 MIN READ
ATHENS (Reuters) - A group of mainly Syrian women and children who have been stranded in Greece pitched tents opposite parliament in Athens on Wednesday in a protest against delays in reuniting with relatives in Germany.
Some of the refugees, who say they have been in Greece for over a year, said they had begun a hunger strike.
“Our family ties our stronger than your illegal agreements,” read a banner held up by one woman, referring to deals on refugees between European Union nations.
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Trump: militant attacks 'all over Europe,' some not reported
Mon Feb 6, 2017 | 9:06pm EST
Reuters
By Steve Holland | TAMPA, FLA.
President Donald Trump on Monday accused the news media of ignoring attacks by Islamist militants in Europe.
Trump, who has made defeating Islamic State a core goal of his presidency, did not specify which attacks were going unreported, which news media organizations were ignoring them, or offer any details to support his claims.
"All over Europe, it's happening. It's gotten to a point where it's not even being reported," he told a group of about 300 U.S. troops at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.
Reuters
By Steve Holland | TAMPA, FLA.
President Donald Trump on Monday accused the news media of ignoring attacks by Islamist militants in Europe.
Trump, who has made defeating Islamic State a core goal of his presidency, did not specify which attacks were going unreported, which news media organizations were ignoring them, or offer any details to support his claims.
"All over Europe, it's happening. It's gotten to a point where it's not even being reported," he told a group of about 300 U.S. troops at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.
Syria has secretly executed thousands of political prisoners: rights group
The Washington Post
By Liz Sly February 6 at 8:18 PM
BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government secretly executed between 5,000 and 13,000 people in just one prison as part of its campaign to eliminate opposition to his rule, a new report by the watchdog group Amnesty International has found.
The killings took place over a four-year period between 2011 and 2015 in the notorious Sednaya facility outside Damascus, and the bodies were later disposed of in mass graves, according to the report released Monday by Amnesty.
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Tunisian Migrant Investigated for Suspected Terror Ties Is Sought in Berlin Truck Attack
Revelation that authorities sought and failed to deport asylum seeker stokes criticism of Angela Merkel’s refugee policy
The Wall Street Journal
By ANTON TROIANOVSKI and RUTH BENDER
Updated Dec. 21, 2016 7:31 p.m. ET
BERLIN—Anis Amri, a Tunisian migrant whom authorities previously investigated for suspected terror ties and tried to deport, became Germany’s most wanted man as the new prime suspect in the capital’s deadly truck attack.
The revelation that the asylum seeker had been able to remain in Germany despite efforts to expel him stoked a furor over what many politicians called dangerous gaps in the country’s immigration policy and escalated the political crisis facing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.
The Wall Street Journal
By ANTON TROIANOVSKI and RUTH BENDER
Updated Dec. 21, 2016 7:31 p.m. ET
BERLIN—Anis Amri, a Tunisian migrant whom authorities previously investigated for suspected terror ties and tried to deport, became Germany’s most wanted man as the new prime suspect in the capital’s deadly truck attack.
The revelation that the asylum seeker had been able to remain in Germany despite efforts to expel him stoked a furor over what many politicians called dangerous gaps in the country’s immigration policy and escalated the political crisis facing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.
Sunday, December 4, 2016
WHY THE FRAGILE STABILITY IN GREECE MAY NOT LAST MUCH LONGER
A crunch summit with creditors begins Monday.
BY JOSH LOWE ON 12/3/16 AT 2:59 PM
Newsweek
It was late November in Athens, and the city felt empty. A string of surprise thunderstorms kept people imprisoned indoors and outside the Greek parliament in Syntagma Square—where anti-austerity protests raged throughout the summer of 2015—was bare but for a few brave tourists and one quizzical-looking stray dog watching the Evzones guards perform their distinctive, shuffling shift change routine, complete with pom-pom shoes and kilts. With so much unrest elsewhere in Europe, it would be easy to think Greece is heading toward relative quietude.
The coming weeks could change all that. On December 5, the finance ministers of the Eurozone will meet in Brussels for their last scheduled summit of the year. On the agenda is the ongoing second review of Greece’s bailout program, which since 2015 has allowed the country to receive financial assistance from European creditors that will eventually total €86 billion ($91.7 billion) in exchange for carrying out reforms including shrinking the public sector, reining in government spending and raising taxes.
BY JOSH LOWE ON 12/3/16 AT 2:59 PM
Newsweek
It was late November in Athens, and the city felt empty. A string of surprise thunderstorms kept people imprisoned indoors and outside the Greek parliament in Syntagma Square—where anti-austerity protests raged throughout the summer of 2015—was bare but for a few brave tourists and one quizzical-looking stray dog watching the Evzones guards perform their distinctive, shuffling shift change routine, complete with pom-pom shoes and kilts. With so much unrest elsewhere in Europe, it would be easy to think Greece is heading toward relative quietude.
The coming weeks could change all that. On December 5, the finance ministers of the Eurozone will meet in Brussels for their last scheduled summit of the year. On the agenda is the ongoing second review of Greece’s bailout program, which since 2015 has allowed the country to receive financial assistance from European creditors that will eventually total €86 billion ($91.7 billion) in exchange for carrying out reforms including shrinking the public sector, reining in government spending and raising taxes.
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Turkey and E.U. Near Breaking Point in Membership Talks
By ROD NORDLAND and JAMES KANTERNOV. 23, 2016
The New York Times
ISTANBUL — The European Parliament is likely to vote on Thursday to suspend negotiations to bring Turkey into the European Union, infuriating Ankara and possibly hastening the end of a long and troubled process.
While the vote is advisory rather than binding, the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is smarting from European criticism of its crackdown on opponents and on the news media after a failed coup attempt in July. So it has suggested that, in any event, it may pull out of the process altogether if there is no progress by the end of the year. Such progress now seems improbable.
The New York Times
ISTANBUL — The European Parliament is likely to vote on Thursday to suspend negotiations to bring Turkey into the European Union, infuriating Ankara and possibly hastening the end of a long and troubled process.
While the vote is advisory rather than binding, the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is smarting from European criticism of its crackdown on opponents and on the news media after a failed coup attempt in July. So it has suggested that, in any event, it may pull out of the process altogether if there is no progress by the end of the year. Such progress now seems improbable.
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Greece Might Just Get a Boost From an Unlikely Source
The cash-strapped nation stands to gain a lift to demand from the aid effort for refugees
Bloomberg
Nikos Chrysoloras
October 20, 2016 — 7:01 AM EEST
As European Union leaders gather in Brussels on Thursday with the refugee crisis on the agenda, some of them may repeat the claim that their economies can't bear the cost of aiding people fleeing war and persecution. Greece ought not to be one of them.
After all it has been through in the past six years, the arrival of tens of thousands of refugees from across the Aegean may in fact be giving the country a mild, short-term stimulus.
Hundreds of millions of euros have been spent so far to provide shelter, provisions, and support to migrants and asylum seekers, in a period when government-funded spending has taken successive cuts.
Bloomberg
Nikos Chrysoloras
October 20, 2016 — 7:01 AM EEST
As European Union leaders gather in Brussels on Thursday with the refugee crisis on the agenda, some of them may repeat the claim that their economies can't bear the cost of aiding people fleeing war and persecution. Greece ought not to be one of them.
After all it has been through in the past six years, the arrival of tens of thousands of refugees from across the Aegean may in fact be giving the country a mild, short-term stimulus.
Hundreds of millions of euros have been spent so far to provide shelter, provisions, and support to migrants and asylum seekers, in a period when government-funded spending has taken successive cuts.
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
On Greece's Lesbos, migrants remain in limbo in squalid camps
by Reuters
Monday, 10 October 2016 15:20 GMT
Thomson Reuters
The flow of new arrivals has slowed to a trickle, but thousands of migrants remain in limbo on Greece's islands, in grim camps they liken to prisons
* Nearly 15,000 refugees languish on Greek islands
* Tents unheated, sanitation poor as winter approaches
* Local people say crisis has hurt tourism
By Karolina Tagaris
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
More Parent Groups In Northern Greece Speak Out Against Refugee Children Joining Schools
One group suggested refugee children could be housed in a completely different location, but the Ministry of Education rejected their proposal.
09/27/2016 03:45 pm ET
The Huffington Post
Danae Leivada
Reporter, The Huffington Post
Two parents associations in northern Greece voted last week to oppose refugee children attending their schools, publicly denouncing the government’s plans to include the children in the Greek education system.
Following the example of parents in Oreokastro and Filippiada, in northern and western Greece respectively, parents from two primary schools in the northern town of Alexandria voted on Friday against 60 refugee children joining their schools.
Friday, September 23, 2016
Amnesty: Refugees in Greece Live in 'Appalling Conditions'
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEPT. 22, 2016, 9:55 A.M. E.D.T.
The New York Times
ATHENS, Greece — Most of the roughly 60,000 refugees and other migrants stranded in Greece are living in "appalling conditions" and face "immense and avoidable suffering," rights group Amnesty International said in a report Thursday slamming Europe's response to the refugee crisis.
The group criticized Europe for failing to fulfill commitments to relocate refugees from the countries they entered, saying only 6 percent — about 4,000 people — of the 66,400 relocations promised over two years have taken place.
SEPT. 22, 2016, 9:55 A.M. E.D.T.
The New York Times
ATHENS, Greece — Most of the roughly 60,000 refugees and other migrants stranded in Greece are living in "appalling conditions" and face "immense and avoidable suffering," rights group Amnesty International said in a report Thursday slamming Europe's response to the refugee crisis.
The group criticized Europe for failing to fulfill commitments to relocate refugees from the countries they entered, saying only 6 percent — about 4,000 people — of the 66,400 relocations promised over two years have taken place.
Monday, August 1, 2016
Refugee inflow into the Aegean Islands after the coup.
Aegean islands alarm as refugee numbers rise after Turkey coup attempt
EU voices fears that deal struck to curb migration is at breaking point as tensions grow between Turkey and Greece
The Guardian
Greek authorities on a number of Aegean islands have called for emergency measures to curtail a growing flow of refugees from Turkey, which Athens attributes to the impact of the attempted coup in that country.
Since the failed 15 July putsch, the number of Europe-bound migrants willing to make the perilous journey across the Aegean has increased noticeably, with the Greek government announcing that as of yesterday some 9,420 men, women and children had been registered on Lesbos and other islands.
EU voices fears that deal struck to curb migration is at breaking point as tensions grow between Turkey and Greece
The Guardian
Greek authorities on a number of Aegean islands have called for emergency measures to curtail a growing flow of refugees from Turkey, which Athens attributes to the impact of the attempted coup in that country.
Since the failed 15 July putsch, the number of Europe-bound migrants willing to make the perilous journey across the Aegean has increased noticeably, with the Greek government announcing that as of yesterday some 9,420 men, women and children had been registered on Lesbos and other islands.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Greece Begins Moving Refugees Out of Idomeni Camp
By NIKI KITSANTONISMAY 24, 2016
The New York Times
ATHENS — The Greek authorities began moving hundreds of refugees on Tuesday out of a sprawling makeshift camp near the village of Idomeni, on the border with Macedonia, a crucial point on the so-called Balkan trail for migrants that has been closed off for months.
A police operation started around 6 a.m., and by early evening more than 2,000 refugees had been taken by bus to state-run encampments near Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece.
Riot police officers were stationed outside the area, as there were concerns that the operation would lead to unrest. But a spokesman for the Greek police, Lt. Col. Theodoros Chronopoulos, said the evacuation of the camp, which had 20,000 migrants at its peak in March and until Tuesday morning about 8,000, most of them Syrians, was carried out “completely smoothly” and would continue through the end of the week.
The New York Times
ATHENS — The Greek authorities began moving hundreds of refugees on Tuesday out of a sprawling makeshift camp near the village of Idomeni, on the border with Macedonia, a crucial point on the so-called Balkan trail for migrants that has been closed off for months.
A police operation started around 6 a.m., and by early evening more than 2,000 refugees had been taken by bus to state-run encampments near Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece.
Riot police officers were stationed outside the area, as there were concerns that the operation would lead to unrest. But a spokesman for the Greek police, Lt. Col. Theodoros Chronopoulos, said the evacuation of the camp, which had 20,000 migrants at its peak in March and until Tuesday morning about 8,000, most of them Syrians, was carried out “completely smoothly” and would continue through the end of the week.
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Greece Begins Moving Refugees Out of Idomeni Camp
By NIKI KITSANTONISMAY 24, 2016
The New York Times
ATHENS — The Greek authorities began moving hundreds of refugees on Tuesday out of a sprawling makeshift camp near the village of Idomeni, on the border with Macedonia, a crucial point on the so-called Balkan trail for migrants that has been closed off for months.
A police operation started around 6 a.m., with officers, some in uniform and others in plain clothes, leading 340 people onto six buses bound for state-run encampments near Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece.
Riot police officers were stationed outside the area, as there were concerns that the operation would lead to unrest. But a spokesman for the Greek police, Lt. Col. Theodoros Chronopoulos, said the evacuation of the camp, which had 20,000 migrants at its peak in March and until Tuesday morning about 8,000, most of them Syrians, was carried out “completely smoothly” and would continue though the end of the week.
The New York Times
ATHENS — The Greek authorities began moving hundreds of refugees on Tuesday out of a sprawling makeshift camp near the village of Idomeni, on the border with Macedonia, a crucial point on the so-called Balkan trail for migrants that has been closed off for months.
A police operation started around 6 a.m., with officers, some in uniform and others in plain clothes, leading 340 people onto six buses bound for state-run encampments near Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece.
Riot police officers were stationed outside the area, as there were concerns that the operation would lead to unrest. But a spokesman for the Greek police, Lt. Col. Theodoros Chronopoulos, said the evacuation of the camp, which had 20,000 migrants at its peak in March and until Tuesday morning about 8,000, most of them Syrians, was carried out “completely smoothly” and would continue though the end of the week.
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Greece Returns 12 Syrians to Turkey; Will Build 4 More Camps
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
APRIL 27, 2016, 10:54 A.M. E.D.T.
The New York Times
ATHENS, Greece — Greece on Wednesday returned 12 Syrians, including a woman and her four children, to Turkey as part of a European Union-Turkey agreement aiming to stop the flow of refugees and migrants across the Aegean to Europe's more prosperous heartland.
The 12 were flown from the Greek island of Lesbos to Adana in Turkey by a plane chartered by the European border agency Frontex, Greece's citizens' protection ministry said, noting all had expressed the wish to return and none had applied for asylum in Greece.
Under last month's EU-Turkey deal, people arriving clandestinely on Greek islands from Turkey from March 20 onward face being returned unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. So far, 386 people have been returned under the deal, Greece says.
APRIL 27, 2016, 10:54 A.M. E.D.T.
The New York Times
ATHENS, Greece — Greece on Wednesday returned 12 Syrians, including a woman and her four children, to Turkey as part of a European Union-Turkey agreement aiming to stop the flow of refugees and migrants across the Aegean to Europe's more prosperous heartland.
The 12 were flown from the Greek island of Lesbos to Adana in Turkey by a plane chartered by the European border agency Frontex, Greece's citizens' protection ministry said, noting all had expressed the wish to return and none had applied for asylum in Greece.
Under last month's EU-Turkey deal, people arriving clandestinely on Greek islands from Turkey from March 20 onward face being returned unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. So far, 386 people have been returned under the deal, Greece says.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Islam, interment and Greece
Burying drowned migrants is part of a broader Greek problem
Apr 20th 2016, 12:55 BY M.TZ. AND ERASMUS | MYTILENE
Timekeeper
The Economist
THE newly established graveyard, a short drive west of Mytilene port, is a desperately sad place. In the middle of an olive grove, there are dozens of mounds of crumbly earth, some created only a month ago, with markers offering perfunctory information about the people who lie underneath: a name, a date of death or discovery and a date of interment. Sometimes the name is not known.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Greece Holds Activists as Migrants and Police Clash Anew at Macedonia Border
By LIZ ALDERMANAPRIL 13, 2016
The New York Times
ATHENS — Clashes erupted at Greece’s northern border for the second time in three days on Wednesday, with the Macedonian police firing tear gas on scores of migrants as they protested border closings that have left more than 12,000 stranded in a makeshift refugee camp.
The protests in Idomeni, a town in Greece on the border with Macedonia, came as Greek authorities arrested 14 activists there, saying that they had incited the migrants to storm the razor-wire fence dividing the two countries.
The New York Times
ATHENS — Clashes erupted at Greece’s northern border for the second time in three days on Wednesday, with the Macedonian police firing tear gas on scores of migrants as they protested border closings that have left more than 12,000 stranded in a makeshift refugee camp.
The protests in Idomeni, a town in Greece on the border with Macedonia, came as Greek authorities arrested 14 activists there, saying that they had incited the migrants to storm the razor-wire fence dividing the two countries.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Number Of Refugees Arriving In Greece Drops Dramatically
Only 80 migrants and refugees arrived in Greece over a 24-hour period this week, compared to an average of 1,150 per day in mid-March.
04/12/2016 06:55 pm ET
The Huffington Post
Danae Leivada
Reporter, The Huffington Post
ATHENS, Greece — Fewer than 100 migrants and refugees crossed the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece over a 24-hour span Monday and Tuesday, a dramatic drop from the number of arrivals earlier this year. The declining numbers could fuel hope that an agreement between Turkey and the European Union to stem the flow of migrants to Greece is starting to have an effect.
Just 80 migrants and refugees arrived in Greece from Monday morning to 9 a.m. Tuesday, compared to an average of 1,150 per day in mid-March, before the implementation of the agreement, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
04/12/2016 06:55 pm ET
The Huffington Post
Danae Leivada
Reporter, The Huffington Post
ATHENS, Greece — Fewer than 100 migrants and refugees crossed the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece over a 24-hour span Monday and Tuesday, a dramatic drop from the number of arrivals earlier this year. The declining numbers could fuel hope that an agreement between Turkey and the European Union to stem the flow of migrants to Greece is starting to have an effect.
Just 80 migrants and refugees arrived in Greece from Monday morning to 9 a.m. Tuesday, compared to an average of 1,150 per day in mid-March, before the implementation of the agreement, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Greece condemns Macedonian use of force to stop migrants crossing border
Police action on unarmed people ‘unworthy of a European nation’ says Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras
The Wall Street Journal
By NEKTARIA STAMOULI
April 11, 2016 11:08 a.m. ET
ATHENS–Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Monday accused Macedonia of “shameful” actions, after Macedonian police used tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets in attempt to prevent migrants crossing the border between the two countries Sunday.
Macedonia’s police action against “people who did not constitute a threat and were not armed and were attacked with chemicals, [rubber] bullets is unworthy of a European nation,” the Greek Prime Minister said in a press conference with his Portuguese counterpart António Costa, who is currently visiting Athens.
The Wall Street Journal
By NEKTARIA STAMOULI
April 11, 2016 11:08 a.m. ET
ATHENS–Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Monday accused Macedonia of “shameful” actions, after Macedonian police used tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets in attempt to prevent migrants crossing the border between the two countries Sunday.
Macedonia’s police action against “people who did not constitute a threat and were not armed and were attacked with chemicals, [rubber] bullets is unworthy of a European nation,” the Greek Prime Minister said in a press conference with his Portuguese counterpart António Costa, who is currently visiting Athens.
Frustrated refugee in Germany sets fire to his new home, police say
The Washington Post
By Rick Noack April 11 at 2:42 PM
When a house used to shelter refugees was burned down in an arson attack last week, there seemed to be no doubt about the motives behind it. Someone had sprayed a swastika on one of the house's walls, which made investigators believe that they were dealing with right-wing extremism. Local politicians in the city of Bingen were shocked and immediately set up a pro-refugee march to advocate for tolerance.
That was before a Syrian refugee — an inhabitant of the house — reportedly confessed to the crime.
According to police, the 26-year-old had lived in the house for more than half a year and wanted to express his dissatisfaction with the accommodations, which he described as cramped. He has since been jailed, as investigators search for explanations and evidence.
By Rick Noack April 11 at 2:42 PM
When a house used to shelter refugees was burned down in an arson attack last week, there seemed to be no doubt about the motives behind it. Someone had sprayed a swastika on one of the house's walls, which made investigators believe that they were dealing with right-wing extremism. Local politicians in the city of Bingen were shocked and immediately set up a pro-refugee march to advocate for tolerance.
That was before a Syrian refugee — an inhabitant of the house — reportedly confessed to the crime.
According to police, the 26-year-old had lived in the house for more than half a year and wanted to express his dissatisfaction with the accommodations, which he described as cramped. He has since been jailed, as investigators search for explanations and evidence.
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