Refugees protest Macedonia deportation decision

Refugees have staged a peaceful rally in the Greek border village of Idomeni to protest against Macedonia’s decision to deport some of the asylum seekers entering the country.

About 1,300 refugees protested on Saturday against the decision by Macedonian authorities across the border to turn away refugees who are not from war zones such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Greek police took position around the peaceful demonstrators gathered near the border and by early afternoon most of the participants had returned to their tents they had set up a short distance away.

The protesters chanted slogans demanding freedom of movement, saying they were “not going back.”

Most of the protesters were from Morocco with some from Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Congo.

A number of them are reportedly on hunger strike to protest the Macedonian decision.

Some refugees have been waiting in Idomeni for three days. A few asylum seekers have reportedly set up tents along the border and have been blocking the railway line between Greece and Macedonia in the same time span.

Prior to Macedonia, other countries on the refugees’ route to northern Europe, including Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia had made a similar decision.

‘Free ride’

Greece’s Deputy Interior Minister Yiannis Mouzalas visited Idomeni on Saturday and said Athens is willing to give free rides to refugees who have been denied entry into Macedonia to go back to the Greek capital.

He added that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is to hold a meeting with authorities to discuss the matter later Saturday.

The Greek police say 1,250 asylum seekers had crossed from Greece into Macedonia in the 24 hours up to early Saturday morning.

According to the International Organization for Migration, over 680,000 people fleeing foreign-backed wars, terrorism, and unrest in the Middle East and North Africa have landed on European shores this year after making dangerous sea journeys from Turkey to Greece and across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy. More than 3,000 have died or gone missing trying to reach Europe.

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