Idomeni – Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Governor of Greece’s Central Macedonia Province, has expressed his willing to declare a state of emergency over the thousands of migrants stranded in the region’s closed borders.
He said on Saturday at Idomeni the border with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, that 18,000 migrants are in refugee camps.
Tzitzikostas said the Greek Government estimated that 32,000 migrants have been stranded in Greece after Balkan countries closed their borders, stopping them from proceeding along the Balkan route to richer countries in Northern and Western Europe.
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He noted that heavy morning rains have turned the makeshift camp at Idomeni into a mud bath, while temperatures were just four degrees Celsius.
“Hundreds were suffering from the cold and were experiencing breathing problems.
“The hygienic situation was quite serious,’’ he said.
Tzitzikostas said aid organisations are advising the migrants that there is better accommodation in reception camps to the south of the border, such as Nea Kavala, some 15 kilometres from Idomeni.
He said most migrants are not taking this advice and are remaining by the border, hoping that the Macedonian authorities would open the border fence if only briefly to allow some to pass.
Meanwhile, the Greek Coastguard reported that a further 975 migrants arrived in the Greek port of Piraeus from the Aegean islands of Lesbos and Chios on Saturday morning.
They said another 54 migrants were expected to arrive from the island of Kos later in the afternoon.
Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, and the leaders of the largest Greek parties have demanded that Tsipras be invited to Monday’s EU-Turkey summit in Brussels which will deal with the refugee crisis.
Tsipras said he would like to see the formation of a European Coastguard to be based in Greece.
He would also like to see previously agreed measures implemented, such as speedier returns of failed asylum seekers and the redistribution of migrants among all EU member states, with penalties for those that do not fulfill their obligations. (dpa/NAN)