Greek authorities closed Kastanies, the border gate to Turkey, Friday noon, in order to effectively prevent hundreds of refugees and migrants entering the country. Chief of Greek General Staff and the Minister of Citizen Protection are heading to the region of Evros.
With the assistance of border guards, police officers sealed the border gate, while some 300 people are on the Turkish side waiting to come to Greece, media report.
Greek custom officers have reportedly informed their colleagues on the Turkish side so that they would also take measures, however, their has been reportedly no response,
Strong police forces have been deployed to the border gate in the region of Evros, the land border between the two countries. They are expected to enhanced during the day.
Hundreds of refugees have flocked to the region and are waiting in two different parts of the Evros river trying to cross the Greek side.
Migrants walk to the Turkey’s Pazarkule border crossing with Greece’s Kastanies, in Pazarkule, Turkey.
Refugees and migrants have gathered by the fence in Nea Vyssa and others are at Kastanies customs office on the Turkish side.
Live streaming from the Kastanies borders
According to media information, there is no tension and just a few refugees have been able to enter the Greek territory.
Last night, Turkey opened the gates to refugees and migrants and encouraged them to go to Greece claiming the borders were open.
In response, Greece has tightened its sea and land borders.
It is not lawful to close a country’s borders to refugees. In fact, it could constitute a Crime against Humanity in certain circumstances (depending on the condition of the refugees, inter alia).
Greece is playing with fire. Admittedly Turkey is being difficult, but what’s new? We always knew that the EU-Turkey deal was unstable, unsuitable and short term. The EU has no plans for responding, other than to turn Greece into one large refugee camp.
Why let them in ? Let the Saudi’s help there cultural brothers… These people are not refugees they are economic migrants… Not entry…
They are not refugees, they are economic migrants and Greece should be able to decide who comes into the country and who doesn’t.
Sir you know very well many of these people are false asylum and in any case the first SAFE country i.e not being bombed or in the middle of was for the Syrian refugees is Turkey. They should stay there.
by law and logic and reason.
Anyway as our Israeli friends say about Israel, Greece does not have the demographic depth to take in too many even if they were legitimate refugees.
YOU and your kind are playing with fire.
I am not sure of your heritage but why you do not advocate they go straight on a plain to your nation state. They want to go to Sweden and Germany anyway…( again rent seeking ).
There is NO absolute right to asylum. It depends also on the receiving nations capacity and that such numbers do not cause chaos in the receiving country.
AND YOU KNOW THAT.
These people are mostly rent seekers. They are physically safe in Turkey. who happen also to be their co-religionist, they should stay there . Turkey got money lots of money to support them there I am sure Erdogan stole it or he and his cronies.
Why also does Europe have to be the destination for these people and not Saudi Arabia or any of the oil rich countries that share their culture language and religion. Look at what happened in Cologne and all over Germany on New Years Eve in 2015. And all the cases of child and adult rapes due to “sexual emergencies”. Granted not all of this people are rapist but at minimum they are seeking to get on welfare from the most generous system. Rather than staying safe in Turkey or going to another Muslim country.
This is about replacing Europeans in Europe so that natives become a minority
And Erdogan is using this as a war on Greece and Europe in general.
In reply to the incorrect assertions here:
(1) The EU has a legal obligation to admit asylum-seekers and give protection to those who are entitled to it. That is the law. And yes, there is a right to asylum which is not dependent on numbers. That is also the law.
(2) The majority of people arriving have a legitimate right to protection. The new arrivals are expected to be from Syria. Claims that these are not refugee flows are far right propaganda.
(3) Refugees and asylum-seekers are not safe in Turkey. There is no legal obligation for them to stay in Turkey, other than the non-legal EU-Turkey Statement.
(4) Violent and uncivilised countries like Saudi Arabia (and also Israel) do not accept refugees, nor would any want to go there. The extremist form of Islam that the Gulf State monarchies impose on their subjects is the worst form of Islam, and Syrians do not want anything to do with it.
(5) The comment about “replacing Europeans in Europe” is just far right Chryssi Avgi propaganda, trying to scare decent people. There is no such policy, never has been, and never will be. Stop repeating malicious lies and deceits, with the intent to cause trouble.
1) I do not agree that it is true, but even if I were wrong, the law of reality also sets in separate from what people put on paper.
if 20 million people want to go to say not Greece but France.. a country bigger and richer and bigger population than Greece … would France have to by some law take in all 20 million ? are you high on drugs?
2) Again you are assertion is that all of these are Syrians. Even if they are so what.
3) yes they are safe in Turkey there is NO war in Turkey.
Saudi Arabia would also be safe for them as well.
as would be Israel.
There is no legal obligations to execute a contract or law that you can not fulfill.i.e. already broke on committing suicide greek tax payers..
you have to pay for all these people because I Joseph Heller say so. cause your government signed some law. The spirit behind the law is to help ( and even if its not in writing ) it is understand that the limit is “within” your means.. Greece does not have the means for these people and Turkey has been being paid to help them.
5) whether its a conspiracy or NOT Europeans are having lower than replacement birth rates and we can not absorb all these migrant flow asylum flows etc. and not end up as minorities in our home countries.
This is an undesireable outcome and we do not want it.
Listen to that concern or you give people no choice but to go with the far right.
4) wh
1.-2. They are not entitled to asylum as there is peace in big part of Syria territory, so they can return to peaceful parts of their country and wait there till the war is completely over. Also, they should help rebuilding their country or even join the Syrian army and fight against islamic terrorists. If they don’t want to return, it doesn’t give them any legitimate right for protection in EU. Also, many of them are not from Syria.
3. Turkey is not sending them away and they are safe in Turkey. Turkey also has to stick to human rights agreements. So there is no legal reason that they shall move from Turkey to EU. Also, Turkey is responsible for supporting (some fractions of) terrorists in northern Syria, thus it is their obligation to handle the refugees from that regions.
4. What you write about “uncivilised” countries is out of topic. If Turkey needs more help with refugees, they shall ask USA, who are responsible for the destruction of Syria in the first place.
5. Your sentence “There is no such policy, never has been, and never will be.” is just your subjective opinion (btw. even if the first part was correct, how can you possibly know that it NEVER will be??). So instead of blaming “far right” you should stop thinking that your opinions are automatically an objective truth.
As much as this a hart felt to those genius pore migrants it’s also not fair for a country that is still trying to hold its self up from recession and can not look after them selves that they will have to bow down to a dictator who is been bulling and was paid to have those refugees him self! Greece has been a target by so many and it’s time to stand up to fend for its own! All those refugees that I can see don’t look like they need to be looked after as most of them have money and fancy gadgets like phones and cameras and are well dressed! Greece can not cope with such un influx of people it’s a small poor country and That crazy dictator Turkish leader needs to understand that Greece has been very tolerant so far as they do not want to go to war as they have nothing on the Turkish people it’s their dictator leader who needs to go! But Greece will not take anymore abuse from him it’s time to stand up and let him know what Greeks are all about! And why do we need to go to war and have innocent people die just because a mad man who wants it and thinks he will be the master of the world! So it’s time for all other countries who value And are allies to Greece to help Greece from all this horrible situation and put a stop to Turkish selfish black mails leader!
Greece does not have the economy to support them. Period. The end. What else don’t you get? Simple math.