UNHCR warns about European border closures

The head of the United Nations Refugee Agency has warned European states that their decision to close borders on refugees would only exacerbate the current chaotic situation on the shores of the continent.

“I am very worried about the news that we are getting about increasing closures of European borders along the Balkans route because that will create further chaos and confusion,” Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said on Tuesday during a visit to the Greek island of Lesbos.

The Italian diplomat, who has newly taken on as the top UN migration official, said the closing of borders by countries on the refugee route in Europe will only increase the burden on frontline nations such as Greece.

“It will increase the burden on Greece, which is already shouldering a very big responsibility in managing these people and this is happening when we are not yet having alternatives,” said Grandi after his visit to Lesbos, a main landing point for thousands of refugees coming from Turkey.

The remarks came two days after Macedonia closed its borders to Afghans. Other European countries had already barred passage to refugees from Afghanistan, saying they will only allow those real refugees, including people escaping war in Syria and Iraq. Macedonia announced February 21 that it will introduce tougher document checks for nationals from those two Arab countries. Reports say some 8,000 people have been trapped in Greece following the decision.

Grandi said border closures could force the refugees to look for more dangerous ways to reach their destinations.

“So... to close the borders or to manage them tightly, to put it that way, in the absence of legal, safe alternatives for refugees will increase chaos and most likely will increase irregular movements that put people at risk,” the UNHCR chief said.

He also slammed the European Union for offering little help with regards to the relocation of refugees, saying an EU program for resettling some 160,000 people from Greece and Italy is “too small.” Only hundreds of refugees have managed to land in EU countries as part of the program while another scheme to directly resettle refugees from Turkey has not started yet.

The International Organization for Migration said Tuesday that more than 100,000 refugees have crossed the Mediterranean to Greece and Italy so far this year. More than a million also managed to reach Europe in 2015, creating the worst refugee crisis for Europe in decades.

Many blame the support by some Western countries' for militants operating in the Middle East as the main reason behind the refugee influx into Europe. 

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