Two more refugees dead in Aegean, hundreds stranded at Greece-FYROM border

Two more people lost their lives on Wednesday in two separate incidents with boats carrying refugees and migrants from Turkey to Lesvos island in Greece, the Greek Coast Guard said.

A five-year-old child and a woman died of hypothermia after two boats capsized. At least 46 people were rescued, while the number of missing remains unknown.

Despite the rough seas, the flow of desperate people fleeing war zones seeking refuge in Europe continues unabated.

On Tuesday, according to the Greek Coast Guard officials, 1,028 people reached the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea on boats provided by smugglers.

More than 800,000 people landed on Greek shores in 2015, half of them on Lesvos, according to official statistics.

Greece is a transit country, as the overwhelming majority of refugees and migrants continue their journey to other more prosperous European countries.

The next stage of the trip, crossing from Greece into the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), is not without obstacles.

At least 600 refugees were stranded on Tuesday at Idomeni, a border crossing between Greece and Macedonia, in subzero temperatures, according to Greek authorities.

Skopje closed the border crossing due to congestion caused by a train breaking down on the international railroad line to Slovenia, according to a Macedonian foreign ministry announcement.

In the meantime, the refugees, mainly from Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, sought refuge at a gas station on Tuesday near the border crossing while waiting for it to reopen.

On Wednesday, following the intervention of several humanitarian organizations, Greek authorities reopened a temporary camp that had been set up by nongovernmental groups in August and closed in December, as Athens was under culminating pressure from European partners to stem the flow of people. The camp can accommodate about 2,000 people in heated tents. Endit