Greece asks for EU help in managing borders amid migrant crisis

Greece asks for EU help in managing borders amid migrant crisis

PanARMENIAN.Net - Greece has asked for EU help in managing its borders, as thousands of migrants remain stuck on its northern frontier with Macedonia, BBC News reports.

Macedonia has only been letting in Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are fleeing conflict, sparking angry demonstrations from other groups.

Tear gas was fired on Thursday, December 3 as police unsuccessfully moved to clear a border crossing blocked by protesters

A young Moroccan migrant was electrocuted amid clashes near Idomeni. The man died after climbing onto the roof of a train carriage and touching a high-voltage overhead cable, local police said.

Some 5,000 people are now stuck at the border, including 43 busloads of Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who arrived overnight on Wednesday.

EU interior ministers will meet on Friday to discuss Greece's ability to control the flow of migrants crossing through the country on the way to northern Europe.

Athens' acceptance of help from EU border agency Frontex and European aid to care for migrants was welcomed by the bloc ahead of the meeting.

Reports had suggested that some EU states had asked for Greece to be suspended from the Schengen passport-free zone for not doing enough to secure its external borders and allegedly rejecting EU help.

Greece denies that it ever spurned EU assistance, but the government, aware of domestic ramifications, has sought to make clear that Frontex will only assist with migrant registration, and not conduct joint border patrols.

Almost 600,000 migrants have arrived in Greece this year, mostly by boat from nearby Turkey. The government has spent some €1bn on managing the crisis, it says.

Many migrants try to travel onwards to northern Europe through the Balkans, where countries have put up fences and reinstated border controls.

The thousands of people stranded near Idomeni are sleeping in charity-provided shelters, tents or in the fields.

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