More than
20,000 Mideast war refugees and irregular migrants are now stranded
in Greece, while numbers at the Idomeni border crossing with the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) are growing alarmingly
and reception facilities are reaching capacity, the migration policy
ministry reported on Friday.
The
reception centres in the greater Athens were filled to overflowing,
the ministry said, with 2,000 people currently staying at a camp set
up the former Olympic facilities in the coastal Elliniko, 1,200 at a
centre in downtown Athens, 1,200 in Schisto port site and 1,150
waiting at the port of Piraeus. Similarly, 2,000 had filled a new
reception centre at Diavata, Thessaloniki, in northern Greece.
Large
numbers of third country nationals have started congregating at the
border crossing at Idomeni after fYRoM authorities slowed the passage
of registered refugees entering to roughly 50 an hour earlier this
week. There were 4,000 people waiting at a temporary camp at Idomeni,
where there was no free space, and another 1,500 at a petrol station
in the border town of Polykastro. Meanwhile, dozens of third country
nationals continued arriving on foot even though authorities of the
neighboring country did not allow anyone to legally enter their
territory until the afternoon.
At the same
time, refugees and irregular migrants continued to arrive on various
eastern Aegean islands. There were 482 in Rhodes, Kastellorizo, Leros
and Kos, a further 1,766 people waiting to depart for the mainland at
the hotspot and camp in Lesvos and 498 awaiting registration on
Chios. Roughly 1,000 are expected to leave Lesvos and Chios for
Piraeus on the ferry 'Blue Star 1' on Friday night.
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