A suffocating situation has been created during the last days with thousands of exhausted and desperate refugees and immigrants being scattered all over Greece.

In Idomeni the situation is yeasty with the refugees having formed a human chain in front of the borders demanding to enter FYROM so as to continue their journey to Europe.

The situation is out of control with at least 5,500 refugees still waiting to cross the border, while FYROM has not opened its border for at least 24 hours. Hundreds of refugees and immigrants are gathered near the railway line shouting: “Open borders”.

According to information, shortly after 16:00 authorities of FYROM opened the buffer zone between Greece and FYROM allowing only 300 refugees from Iraq and Syria to enter, while 6,000 people are waiting to pass the border.

Photos: Kostas Koukoumakas

The European Commission estimates that about 25,000 refugees and immigrants are currently trapped in Greece after the decision of Slovenia, Austria, FYROM, Serbia and Croatia to reduce the number of immigrants entering their countries to only 580 people every day. This practically means that they have shut down their borders, taking also into account that FYROM has already stopped accepting Afghan refugees.

People, though, continue reaching the shores of the Greek islands, especially now that the weather is good, while it is estimated that about 3,000 will arrive every day.

The hotspots and reception centers are crowded all over the country: 2,000 at Elliniko, 1,200 at Elaionas, 1,200 at Schisto, 2,000 at Diavata and more than 1,000 refugees are waiting at Piraeus port.

In an attempt to stem the flow of refugees and immigrants to mainland Greece, the government ordered the ferries to carry only half of their maximum capacity creating once more a suffocating situation in Greek islands.

On Saturday Blue Star 1 arrived at the port carrying 437 migrants and refugees from Lesvos and Chios.

In the meantime, hundreds of desperate refugees and immigrants who are determined to reach Idomeni by any means have started their journey on foot.

Kostas Koukoumakas