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Roundup: Refugees attempt to enter FYROM by alternative routes

Xinhua, March 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Hundreds of refugees have attempted to enter the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) through a dangerous stream at a nearby Greek village on Monday, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

More than 1,000 refugees, including families with babies, had been stranded for a month due to the border closures across the Balkans. They walked out of the fully-packed camp and headed for the village of Chamilo, about 5 km away, trying to cross a stream to continue their journey to central and northern Europe.

Witnesses told Xinhua that Greek police and volunteers of NGOs in the area attempted to persuade the refugees to come back and not to risk their lives, but the people seemed determined to move forward.

Earlier on Monday, the dead bodies of three refugees were recovered in a river near the border city of Gevgelija in the FYROM and two dozen refugees were saved by FYROM border police, AMNA reported.

Refugees who were attempting to enter FYROM a few km away from the fence on Monday, told the news agency that living conditions were unbearable at the camp.

The same is the makeshift Idomeni tent city where 12,000 refugees and migrants have gathered lately, according to the latest Greek official figures on Monday.

More than 44,000 people have been trapped in Greece since mid- February, according to the official data from the Greek government which struggles to expand existing hospitality centers across the country to accommodate them.

About 9,000 refugees and migrants are on the Aegean Sea islands, another 10,000 across the Greek capital and its suburbs, more than 3,000 in the passenger terminals of Piraeus port and 1,000 are scattered at hospitality centers in central Greece.

Currently the country which since early 2015 has become the main gateway into Europe for the more than 1 million people crossing the Aegean from Turkey, has the capacity to host 30,000 people.

The authorities aim to raise the number to 50,000 by next week. Cabinet ministers stressed that the government does not intend to use police force to relocate people to organized hosting centers, but will attempt to convince them that it is their best option at the moment.

Some 500 refugees were convinced and moved from Idomeni to camps in northern Greece on Saturday, according to the authorities.

However, most people opted to remain in the area, still hoping that the border might open and they can cross into FYROM soon. Endite