Record numbers of migrants and refugees fleeing violence and poverty in countries such as Syria and Afghanistan are trying to reach Europe, despite the risks of perilous sea crossings and the inability of countries to provide adequate humanitarian assistance. Here are the latest developments Friday:
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GREECE: Macedonian special police forces fired stun grenades to disperse thousands of migrants stuck in a no-man’s land on the border with Greece, a day after declaring a state of emergency to deal with a massive influx of migrants heading north to the European Union.
Many in a crowd of 3,000 migrants who spent night out in the open repeatedly tried to charge Macedonian police after the border was shut to crossings Thursday. Greek police say at least eight people were injured, and one youngster was bleeding from what appeared to be shrapnel from the stun grenades fired directly into the crowd.
Police backed by armored vehicles spread coils of razor wire over rail tracks used by migrants to cross on foot from Greece to Macedonia.
Greece has faced an unprecedented wave of migrants this year sneaking onto its islands from the nearby Turkish coast, with more than 160,000 arriving so far. Greek authorities – particularly on the islands that are more accustomed to welcoming tourists – have been overwhelmed.
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TURKEY: The International Organization for Migration says Turkey’s coast guard has coordinated nearly 31,000 rescues so far this year, already more than twice in all of 2014.
The Geneva-based inter-governmental group said the new figures come as IOM staffers in Lesbos, Greece, reported this week to be the single biggest for migrant inflows from Turkey all year. They reached 9,464 between Friday, Aug. 14 and Wednesday, it said.
The IOM said the 30,846 Turkish coast guard rescues this year compares to less than 15,000 last year. Of those this year, three-quarters have been from Syria, while 15 percent came from Afghanistan and 5 percent each from Myanmar and Eritrea.
European Union border agency Frontex said this week that 107,500 migrants, many crossing from Turkey to Greece, were detected at EU borders in July – the third consecutive monthly record and the first time that the monthly number topped 100,000. Nearly 340,000 migrants were spotted at EU borders in the first half of the year, compared to 280,000 for all of 2014.
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GERMANY: Berlin police have arrested three suspects in connection with a failed arson attack on a home for asylum-seekers.
Police said Friday that two men and a woman, whose names weren’t released, were arrested in the area of the Thursday night attack. A watchman at the temporary housing unit in Berlin’s Marzahn neighborhood saw a group in dark clothing throw burning wood into the compound just before midnight. A resident was able to extinguish the fire quickly, police said.
Germany has been largely welcoming to the tens of thousands of refugees arriving each month, but attacks on them and their shelters have been on the rise. Some 800,000 refugees are expected in Germany this year alone, by far the most in the 28-nation European Union.