Greek authorities on the border with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM), in the extreme north of the country, on Tuesday began removing third country nationals, mostly Afghans, assembled in a “no man’s land” area. The operation comes after the Skopje government in the neighboring country stopped Afghans from joining Mideast refugees attempting to reach other European destinations via the so-called “Balkan corridor”.
The development coincides with more Mideast refugees and irregular migrants from other Third World countries arrived at the port of Piraeus, in the greater Athens area. Those groups landed on various Greek isles over the past few days after being illegally ferried over from Turkey.
Reuters reported that empty buses had reached the border post of Idomeni to transport some 1,200 third country nationals to temporary shelters elsewhere in the country.
The government in Skopje this week refused to allow Afghan nationals to pass through its borders and also requested passports or state-issued IDs from people claiming to be Syrian or Iraqi nationals fleeing war zones in those respective countries.
