The trouble erupted at Diavata, a migrant camp, after a rumour spread on social media suggesting that a border crossing would be opened for migrants. The Greek newspaper Kathimerini says dozens of migrants are protesting on the tracks at Athens’s Larissa station, forcing a suspension of rail services. Many are refugees from the Middle East. Reports say some migrants outside the official Diavata camp hurled sticks and stones at police, who responded with tear gas. […] About 600 spent the night camping in a field outside the Diavata camp, and there were more clashes in the morning as police blocked the route to the north. […]
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Migrants planning border push clash with police in Greece
Clashes broke out Thursday between migrants and Greek police outside a camp in northern Greece, where hundreds gathered in the hope of reviving a route that saw hundreds of thousands enter more prosperous countries in Europe.
In the wake of anonymous calls on social media for a long trek through heavily guarded Balkan borders, police said more than 500 people, including families with small children, assembled in a cornfield outside the Diavata migrant camp, which is around 10 kilometers (6 miles) west of the city of Thessaloniki.
Some set up tents as dozens more approached on foot.
Later, about 200 clashed with riot police after trying to break through a cordon. They threw stones at police who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
No injuries or arrests were reported. […]
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Weitere Info:
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In Athens, about 200 migrants occupied the central Larissis train station, which Trainose, the company operating the Greek railroad service, said would remain closed until further notice.
More than 600 migrants had gathered at the station Thursday night, keen to board trains to Thessaloniki and make their way northward, encouraged by social media reports from a group calling itself Glitter of Hope Caravan declaring that borders would open at noon on Friday.Migrant families sat on the rails at the central train station in Athens on Friday, closing the station.
When they were prevented from boarding trains Friday morning, scores clambered onto the tracks and refused to leave. Some laid down on the tracks in a symbolic protest; others pitched tents on the platforms while children chased each other and played over the tracks.
Their numbers had dwindled by Friday afternoon as representatives of the Greek Migration Ministry and the United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, managed to persuade many to leave.
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Al Jazeera berichtet derweil über Festnahmen in der Türkei:
The incidents were reminiscent of the 2015 refugees crisis, when more than a million people attempted to reach Western Europe via Turkey, Greece and the Balkans.
Turkish state media reported on Friday that hundreds of migrants were detained close to Turkey’s borders with Europe on Thursday.
Authorities held 406 migrants in Edrine province, bordering Greece and Bulgaria, while 200 people were arrested while trying to cross to Bulgaria irregularly, according to Anadolu Agency.
Most of those arrested were Afghan, Pakistani Syrian and Iraqi nationals, it said.
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Einem Bericht der NZZ vom 06.04.2019 zufolge waren am Sonnabend am dritten Tag in Folge rund 2000 Personen vor Diavata weiterhin entschlossen, an die Grenze nach Nordmazedonien zu gelangen.