Migrants duped by Turkey’s cruel political stunt
Thousands trapped on border with Greece as Erdogan piles pressure on West to offer help in Syria
Thousands of migrants were trapped yesterday in a squalid no-man’s land beyond Turkey’s border with Greece, as the realisation dawned on them that they had become pawns in a political stunt hatched by the Turkish government.
Huddled crowds from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Syria gathered on a narrow road that sits between Turkish and Greek territory, their path to Europe blocked by razor wire and armed EU border guards.
Less than 24 hours ago, many believed their prayers had been answered when the Turkish government announced it was opening its side of the border and laid on a fleet of unmarked, white buses to ferry migrants to the frontier.
Now they are stuck in freezing temperatures with little food or water, resorting to pulling down branches for firewood and erecting makeshift tents, as it becomes clear that the path to Europe has been tightly sealed. Just yards away from angry confrontations between migrants and border guards, children no older than four or five ran around in the mud.
A Greek government spokesman described the wave of migration as an “onslaught” and pledged to “do whatever it takes” to protect the border. In Austria, Sebastian Kurz, the chancellor, hinted at border closures if migrants were able to enter Greece.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s president, has long threatened to let refugees into Europe if his demands are not met. His latest move marks the most serious escalation in his attempts to secure more help from Europe and Nato in tackling the refugee crisis in Syria, where almost a million have fled war in Idlib province in recent weeks.
In a speech yesterday, Mr Erdoğan claimed that 18,000 people were at the border and threatened to send a further 30,000.
In reality, the number of people gathered at the main crossing, near the Turkish city of Edirne, appeared no higher than 5,000, while in nearby Ipsala a Turkish police officer said around 500 people had arrived.
In what may soon become a sprawling refugee camp unless the crowds are dispersed, women and children huddled around fires, masking their faces from the smoke.
Rumours swirled at the border about Turkish authorities transporting most of the migrants back to Istanbul at the end of the weekend, should Mr Erdoğan feel his point had been made. The majority of those gathered in Edirne were young men, who angrily shouted at the Greek soldiers guarding their side of the border, behind a barbed-wire fence that stretched as far as the eye could see in each direction.
Further south, dozens of migrants were attempting sea crossings to the Greek island of Lesbos in dinghies, with limited success.
Some claimed they had been beaten by Greek police, and said that in at least one incident those who tried to cross into the EU had their shoes confiscated. Others told The Sunday Telegraph of their devastation as they realised they had been duped. Many who were unable to board free buses had paid taxi drivers around 100 lira (£12). Some rode in on the back of trucks driven by locals hoping to make easy cash.
Abdullah, an 18-year-old Afghan who came to Turkey with his five siblings six months ago, said they felt their hearts leap as they were waved across the Turkish side of the border, only to be greeted with barbed wire, soldiers and tear gas at the Greek side.
“We are devastated … we haven’t even tried to cross again because we are too scared. One group today came back without any shoes, cell phones or bags. They were confiscated by the Greek police,” he said.
“They lied to us, they said we could leave and now we are trapped here.”
Most of those gathered at the border did not appear to have arrived from Syria’s war-torn Idlib province, as they said they had already lived in Turkey without social security or identity cards for more than a year. “We have jobs in Turkey but we left them to come here. Now I guess we have to go back,” said an 18-year-old from Kabul who gave his name as Hourshid.
Since 2016, under the terms of the EU-Turkey migration deal, Ankara has been halting refugee flows towards the EU, which in turn agreed to give Turkey €3billion (£2.6billion) and visa-free travel for Turkish citizens.
Josep Borrell Fontelles, the EU’s foreign policy chief, has said that the Turkish government had offered “reassurances” that Turkey intends to continue abiding by that agreement.
The EU is watching the unimpeded flow of migrants from Turkey to the bloc’s external borders in Greece and Bulgaria “with concern”, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday. “Our top priority at this stage is to ensure that Greece and Bulgaria have our full support. We stand ready to provide additional support including through [EU border guard agency] Frontex on the land border,” she tweeted.
As migrants continued to arrive at Edirne yesterday evening, Turkey piled pressure on Western leaders for more military support in Syria.
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the Turkish foreign minister, said the government had urged the US to provide Patriot missiles, after Syrian regime airstrikes that killed 55 Turkish soldiers.
As night fell on Edirne, yet more migrants began to realise they had been duped as part of a cynical geopolitical game.
As they trudged back through no-man’s land, they passed the sign in Turkish that had greeted them 24 hours earlier, when they were filled with false hope. “Turkey’s border is its honour,” the sign says.
‘They lied to us, they said we could leave and now we are trapped here. We just want to go back to Ankara now but we don’t have the money’