Macedonian police clash with migrants on the border

Reap what we sow. The fruits of our labor. Insert whatever cliche you like, but the fallout continues from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As refugees from the wars look for safety in Europe they're being met with more conflict.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/22/world/europe/mac...






SKOPJE, Macedonia - The Macedonian police used stun grenades and tear gas early
on Friday to disperse a large group of migrants trying to enter the
country from Greece.

The clashes took place a day after the Macedonian government declared a temporary state of emergency
at its southern border with Greece and at its northern frontier with
Serbia. The move appeared to be an attempt to introduce greater control
over the wave of migrants who travel through the country, hoping to
reach richer countries in Western Europe.



“It is a fact that we are facing an increased pressure from the influx of
migrants attempting to cross the border,” said Ivo Kotevski, a spokesman
for the Ministry of Internal Affairs. “But so far we have the situation
under control, and there haven't been any major incidents or injuries.”

“Within the last 24 hours, a total of 181 migrants have passed the border,” Mr.
Kotevski said, “which is around 10 times less than in the previous
day.”



Supported by armored vehicles, the police used barbed wire to fence off the
cross-border rail tracks along which migrants had been walking. The
declaration of a temporary state of emergency allows the government to
use soldiers to further bolster security on the border.
Although Macedonia is not in the European Union, many migrants hoping to reach Western
Europe travel through the country after arriving in Greece, often by
boat. Travel costs and train tickets are also relatively cheap in
Macedonia, and other countries in the region have tightened their border
controls recently.

Critics of the government's move on Thursday, technically called a state of
crisis because it can last only 30 days, said that it would lead to
migrants once again jeopardizing their lives by trying to cross the
border illegally - walking along train tracks at night, for example, or
falling victim to human trafficking.



“There was no need for declaring a state of crisis,” said Jasmin Redzepi of
Legis, a nonprofit organization that provides support to migrants. “It
appears to come as a result of the increased pressure from the local
citizens, who protested against the migrants who occupied public spaces
in the city, from one side and increased pressure from the Western
European countries from another.”



Residents of Gevgelija have protested on several occasions over the physical and
environmental damage tied to migrants occupying public spaces in the
city.


Mr. Redzepi described the slow processing of migrants' requests for asylum
as “one of the main reasons for the forming of big crowds” at the
border. “The migrants that now wait to pass the border face very bad conditions,”
Mr. Redzepi added, “with no access to toilets and with only food and
water that activists and local citizens manage to supply.”



The Macedonian prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, said the state of crisis
was a “temporary mechanism” intended to control the flow of migrants “so
that they will have more humane transport through Macedonia.”



“The country does not have the capacity to help so many people, so we had to intervene,” he said.
About 42,000 migrants, mostly from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, have traveled
through the country in the past two months, according to the Ministry
of Internal Affairs.