Greece has postponed the return of the next group of migrants to Turkey under a deal with the European Union until Friday, a Turkish government official said on Tuesday, with no other deportees expected before then.
Several dozen migrants being detained at a holding camp on the Greek island of Lesbos protested behind the barbed wire fence of the compound on Tuesday, shouting ‘We want freedom!’
Greece sent a first wave of migrants back to Turkey on Monday under an EU deal that has faced heavy criticism from rights groups.
Turkey has made preparations to take in up to 500 migrants from Greece on Monday under a plan agreed with the EU to reduce the flow of illegal migration, the Turkish interior minister said.
Turkey has begun work on two centres to process Syrian and other migrants after they return from Greece under a deal with the EU which comes into force next week, local officials and reports said Saturday.
A first batch of 500 migrants are set to return from Greece to Turkey on Monday under the terms of an EU deal reached this month, a European Commission source said.
Greece has begun evacuating migrants from the main Idomeni camp on the Macedonia border, while the flow of refugees arriving on Aegean islands has slowed to a trickle, officials said Saturday.
A total of 1,662 migrants have landed on Greek islands near Turkey since a landmark EU-Turkish deal on curbing the influx took effect on Sunday, a Greek coordination panel said.
Flimsy boats packed with migrants continued to land in Greece from Turkey on Sunday despite the start of a landmark deal between the European Union and Ankara to stem the massive influx.
Some 1,500 migrants who managed to cross into Macedonia, despite the border being closed to them for a week, have been sent back to Greece by Macedonian troops, officials said Tuesday.
Three Afghan migrants, including a pregnant woman, drowned in a river swelled by heavy rain as they tried to cross into Macedonia from Greece early on Monday, officials said.
The German and Greek leaders blasted Balkan countries for shutting their borders to migrants ahead of an EU ministers meeting Thursday, with Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras warning ...
