Greece plans to deport migrants who arrived after March 1st

(Patria) – Since Turkey opened its border with the EU, enabling migrants and refugees to leave the country, Greece has stopped around 35,000 migrants attempting to illegally cross the European Union border, and has announced plans to deport all those who managed to cross in recent days.

Thousands of migrants have crossed to the Greek side, mainly via sea routes to the island of Lesbos or other islands. On their way, they clashed with Greek and Turkish security forces, while horrifying scenes of the situation migrant families found themselves in have gone around the world.

In the last 48 hours alone, Greek border guards have repelled about 7,000 border crossing attempts, bringing the total since February 29th to 34,778, with 244 arrests of those who succeeded, according to sources from the Greek government.

Migrants who arrived in Greece after March 1st will be transferred to the city of Serres in the north, and then returned to their home countries, Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi announced on Wednesday.

He also said that migrants who entered the country before January 1st, 2019, and who are housed on the islands, will be transferred to the mainland in the coming days. Around 20,000 asylum seekers are already on the island of Lesbos, living in overcrowded camps in extremely inhumane conditions.

Turkey's Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu stated on Wednesday that Ankara is preparing a case for the European Court of Human Rights against Greece for the inhumane treatment of refugees.

Turkey made the decision to open its borders contrary to the 2016 EU agreement after 33 of its soldiers were killed in airstrikes by the Russian-backed Syrian regime in northwestern Syria.

The EU and Greece accuse Turkey of using migrants to blackmail Brussels for additional financial support for Ankara's actions in Syria, writes Euronews.

The Turkish government claims it cannot bear a greater burden of refugees, and considers the EU's support so far to be too small compared to the actual needs of almost 4 million refugees who have been residing in its territory for years.