New refugee crisis: 30,000 mass on Europe’s borders
TENS of thousands of refugees from Syria and other countries were massing on the Turkish borders with Greece and Bulgaria last night, hurling stones at guards and trying to cut through razor wire.
An estimated 30,000 migrants gathered at checkpoints after Turkey’s president claimed to have ‘opened the doors’ to allow as many as 4 million asylum seekers to leave the country.
Greek police closed border crossings and fired tear gas at large groups of migrants who tried to enter from Turkey yesterday, while pregnant women and children were among those making hazardous crossings by sea.
One of the first stand-offs came on Friday night at Pazarkule, north-eastern Greece, where hundreds of migrants – including Syrians, Iranians, Iraqis, Pakistanis and Moroccans – demanded to be let in.
A group of young men who tried to cut through the border fence were turned back by armed soldiers, while police used smoke grenades to disperse crowds.
Bulgaria also locked down its southern border and deployed soldiers and military vehicles to patrol its 118-mile frontier with Turkey.
Angry clashes started just 24 hours after an announcement by
Turkish authorities that it would no longer restrict the movement of refugees, tearing up a £ 5 billion agreement with the EU to contain the flow of asylum seekers signed after the 2015 migrant crisis.
Turkey’s decision comes amid frustration that the EU and Nato countries, including Britain, have failed to provide enough support in the country’s opposition to President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war. On Thursday, 33 Turkish soldiers were killed by Syrian forces, dramatically raising tensions in a war in which Turkey and Russia are backing opposing sides.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted he would not back down, adding that his country could not handle another wave of refugees from northern Syria. ‘We opened the doors,’ he said. ‘We will not close those doors. Why? Because the EU should keep its promises.’
The EU said Turkey had not formally notified Brussels of any change to its migration policy.