Greece blocks 35,000 attempting to cross border

Video Credit: Reuters Studio
Published on March 5, 2020 - Duration: 01:38s

Greece blocks 35,000 attempting to cross border

Hundreds of migrants continue to queue and camp near the Turkish-Greek border, despite police forces from both sides taking measures to deter them.

Maha Albadrawi reports


Greece blocks 35,000 attempting to cross border

Greece says it has blocked the entry of nearly 35,000 migrants and refugees attempting to cross its border with Turkey, underscoring the resurging crisis on the European Union's doorstep.

Seen from helicopter, the scale becomes obvious: huge lines of people camped out waiting to cross.

They've flocked to the border after Ankara last week said it would no longer uphold its 2016 commitment to the EU to keep Syrian refugees on Turkish soil.

Greece said it turned away 7,000 in just 24 hours.

Turkey, which already hosts 3.6 million refugees, says the EU hasn't given it adequate money to provide for the people.

Turkey is also facing its own refugee surge on its border with Syria because the heavy fighting there -- including Turkish troops -- has kicked off the worst humanitarian disaster of the war.

Meanwhile, those trying to cross into Greece are being met with tear gas from both sides.

Ankara has accused Greek forces of shooting four migrants dead; Athens says Turkish forces are goading the migrants to cross the border to pressure Brussels into offering more money, or to support its aims in the Syrian conflict.

For now, the situation remains at an impasse, and the migrants at the heart of the crisis remain in no-man's land.

Unable to move forward; unwilling to go back.

You are here

Related videos from verified sources

Frontex border operation in Greece 'lacks legal basis' after Greece suspends asylum law 01:04
Video credit: euronews (in English) - Published on March 10, 2020 

Aerial footage shows queues of migrants near Greek-Turkish border 00:44
Video credit: Reuters Studio - Published on March 5, 2020 

Protests in Madrid over treatment of migrants on the Greece-Turkey border 02:09
Video credit: Newsflare - Published on March 5, 2020 

You might like