Calls for Greece to declare state of emergency at border where 20,000 are waiting to cross into Macedonia as Turkey moots new ‘refugee city’ the size of Hampshire in northern Syria
Greece facing calls to declare a state of emergency at the border
Thousands of migrants are stranded due to the new border restrictions
Around 60 per cent of the migrants in Greece are stuck in Idomeni
By TOM WYKE
DailyMail.com
5 March 2016
The Greek government has been called to declare a state of emergency at the border where thousands of migrants are stranded due to the tightened border restrictions by Macedonia.
60 per cent of the migrants in Greece are stuck in Idomeni, with around 14,000 people in the town and a further 7,000 housed in refugee camps around the region.
‘It’s a huge humanitarian crisis. I have asked the government to declare the area in a state of emergency,’ Apostolos Tzitzikostas, governor of the Greek region of Central Macedonia said.
Next door Macedonia has stopped all but a trickle of Iraqi and Syrian refugees from crossing, following similar restrictions by countries further north on the migration route.
The moves have caused a massive bottleneck in Greece, whose close proximity to the Turkish coast has made it the preferred entry point for refugees and other migrants seeking better lives in Europe.
Greek authorities said only about 180 people crossed the border in the past 24 hours.
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