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UNHCR slams fresh restrictions on refugees stranded at Balkan

Tuesday, 24 November 2015 3:13 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 24 November 2015 3:16 PM ]

Refugees sit in front of police in protest against latest restrictions on asylum seekers at the border with Greece, near the town of Gevgelija, Macedonia, November 24, 2015. ©Reuters

The UN refugee agency has criticized new restrictions imposed by some Balkan countries on refugees, saying all people irrespective of their nationalities have the right to seek asylum.

"The new restrictions chiefly involve people being profiled on the basis of their claimed nationalities," Adrian Edwards, who is the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told a news briefing on Tuesday.

"All people have the right to seek asylum, irrespective of their nationality and to have their individual cases heard. Proper information needs to be provided to people affected by decisions at border points, and proper counseling needs to be available," Edwards added.

The remarks followed new measures at the Macedonian-Greek and the Macedonian-Serbian borders to allow only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans to cross while stopping people with certain nationalities from heading towards northern Europe.

Approximately 200 people held a protest against the new policies at the affected zones, with some declaring a hunger strike or sewing their lips.

Europe's border controls have come under renewed scrutiny since the deadly attacks in the French capital city of Paris on 13 November. The assaults, which were claimed by the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, left 130 people dead and over 350 others injured.

About 1,000 refugees are currently stuck at the main crossing point into Macedonia from Greece.

Rados Djurovic, director of the Belgrade-based Asylum Protection Center, questioned the restrictions, warning that they risked violating human rights and asylum law.

"To classify a whole nation as economic migrants is not a principle recognized in international law," Djurovic added.

Life guards help refugees as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos on November 24, 2015 after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey. ©AFP

European countries reportedly remain divided over how to deal with refugees, most of whom are fleeing conflict-hit zones in the Middle East and Africa.

According to the recent figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 858,800 refugees have reached Europe’s shores so far this year while a total of 3,548 people have either died or gone missing in their perilous journey to the continent.

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