Greece seeks to curb refugee flow from islands to mainland

PanARMENIAN.Net - Greece asked its passenger ferry companies and travel agencies on Friday, February 26 to cut back on bringing migrants and refugees from frontline islands to the mainland and said its own chartered ships would stay put for a few days, Reuters reports.

The moves, described by Greece's shipping minister as temporary, are designed to stem a flow of people mostly fleeing from violence in the Middle East, as border controls further north in the Balkans threaten to strand tens of thousands in Greece.

Most refugees arrive in the European Union after a short but at times dangerous journey by small boats from Turkey to nearby Greece islands such as Lesbos.

At least 20,000 refugees and migrants have been stranded in Greece after border shutdowns through the Balkans route to central and northern Europe.

Greece on Thursday recalled its ambassador to Austria in anger over the border closures and has threatened to block European Union decision-making unless the bloc comes up with concerted action to deal with the crisis.

"We have taken some actions because of border closings, including an increase of temporary shelter spaces and a relative slowdown of the transport of migrants from the islands to the port of Piraeus," Shipping Minister Thodoris Dritsas told Skai TV, according to Reuters.

He said three ships chartered specifically to move migrants to the Greek mainland would be docked at the islands and accommodate refugees for 'two or three days'.

"It is a small scale slowdown (of flows to the mainland)," he said.