Late last month, Norwegian PM Erna Solberg proclaimed that if she became convinced that Sweden’s refugee crisis was set to spiral out of control or “break down” (as she called it), she may be prepared to close her country’s borders altogether in what would quite possibly amount to a contravention of Norway’s duties under the Geneva Convention and a move that would almost surely trigger a rash of human rights violations.
It underscored how desperate some Europeans had become and indeed, it was just days later when EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos warned that the bloc has just 10 days to implement a plan that will bring about “tangible and clear results on the ground” or else “the whole system will completely collapse.”
The 10-day "countdown" is a reference to the leadup to an EU/Turkey Summit where Erdogan, as usual, stands in the way of progress.
He’s determined to extract money and political concessions from Brussels in exchange for his country’s help in stemming the flow of Asylum Seekers from neighboring Syria. A transcript from a leaked discussion between himself and European Commissioner Jean Claude Juncker and President of the European Council Donald Tusk on 16th November 2015 during the G20 Summit in Antalya suggests that Erdogan told Juncker that Turkey can simply: :put them [the migrants] on buses." That's a rather thinly-veiled threat to simply pass the migrants straight through to the gates (and we mean “gates” both that figuratively and literally at this juncture) of the Balkan rout noth.
The Summit begins on Monday and we don't have much in the way of hope. After all, in order to guard the bloc's external border you need buy in from Erdogan (when he's actually looking for buy out quite literally), and somehow poor Alexis Tsipras is expected to control the bottleneck after having been left for broke by the very same Brussels Eurocrats who now want (no, demand) his help.
As KeepTalkingGreece puts in thousands of refugees and migrants wandering from Athens to Idomeni without knowing where to sleep and what to eat, where to lay their kids and elderly to sleep. What happens when they get to Idomeni, you ask? Well they try to beat down border gates with homemade bettering rams. Like so:
If they can't break through and make a run for it north, the end up simply stranded in Greece.
This has infuriated Athens, who last month recalled their Ambassador to Austria after the country held a series of meetings with Balkan countries without inviting the Greeks.
So don't hold your breath for a solution (or for a harrowing raft ride across the Mediterranean) to the "safe shores" of Europe. The is one crisis that is simply going to fester until it boils over. The Barbarians (and no, not in the pejorative sense, in the classic literary sense) are the gates - and they're coming "home" Frau Merkel, whether you like it or not.
But in any event, below is a draft document obtained by Der Standard.at (Googel translated) which suggests EU officials are now set to mark a turning point: "The Closure of The Balkan Route."
At the EU summit on Monday the immediate termination of the illegal flow of migrants and by Wave of Greece should be explained to Germany as a top priority of EU policy. This goes forth from one to the STANDARD present draft. Athens must immediately 50,000 places for potential asylum realize Greece gets "any help" the Union. Migrants with no chance of asylum should also be deported immediately to Turkey.
The EU summit with Turkey on Monday in Brussels and subsequent meetings of the 28 heads of state without the Turkish Premier Ahmed Davutoglu is expected to bring a dramatic change in the current policy and in dealing with refugees and migrants. This is at least the result of a yet secret declaration that Saturday evening was coordinated between the government headquarters in the capital cities. In the paper, which is pending before STANDARD, it literally means: "The irregular flow of migrants along the West Balkan route comes to an end this route is closed from now.."
With regard to the measures in the area of ??Union, in forceful language describes the explanation of the Government a package of measures to be set in the coming weeks. To the consequences of closing the Balkan route, catch the jam thousands incoming refugees, the EU agreed to "do the maximum to assist Greece in this difficult moment." If it were "a collective responsibility of the community, which requires fast and efficient mobilization of all available resources", but "also the contributions of the Member States".
The second major issue is security. The EU will send over their border protection agency Frontex once more officials to Greece, which will be based on the borders with Macedonia and Albania. They should also ensure that the reception centers (hotspots) function in Greece, where the refugees are first recorded and prepared for the allocation of EU countries where they are to get proper asylum procedure. Until later than 1 April, the EU countries should make more, going beyond existing commitments officials for Frontex available. Europol is to strengthen the fight against smuggling. In March summit in ten days, the progress will be evaluated.
A UN official said Friday (4 March) that the overwhelming majority of people coming to Europe are not economic migrants, but people seeking refuge from war. He also criticised EU leaders for telling migrants not to come to Europe.
“The inconvenient truth is that people are still coming to Europe, because the wars are still ongoing,” Vincent Cochetel, the director of the Europe branch of the UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, told journalists.
Syrians make up 48 percent of those arriving to Greece. 26 percent are Afghans and 17 percent are Iraqis. In total, 91 percent are refugees from three major conflicts, the latest UN data shows.
“To call them illegal migrants is a short-cut by European leaders,” Cochetel added.
On Thursday, EU Council chief Donald Tusk said "all potential illegal economic migrants, wherever you are from: Do not come to Europe."
Earlier, European Commission vice president Frans Timmermans was quoted in Dutch media as sayingsome 60 percent of the arrivals last December are from countries where there is no conflict.
According to UN figures, 2,100 people arrived to Greece on Thursday, while in total 126,000 people arrived to Greece as of 2 March. 12,000 arrived in the same period last year.
As the border between Macedonia and Greece is effectively closed, with just a few dozen people being let through daily, 30,000 people are stranded in Greece.
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