AP EXPLAINS: The new migration crisis at Europe's borders
Andrew Wilks | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 8 months AGO
Migrants arrive at the village of Skala Sikaminias, on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing on a dinghy the Aegean sea from Turkey on Monday, March 2, 2020. Thousands of migrants and refugees massed at Turkey's western frontier, trying to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those hoping to head to Europe. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
Migrants wash clothes at Maritsa river near Edirne, at the Turkish-Greek border on Monday, March 2, 2020. Thousands of migrants on Monday tried to find a way across the land border into Greece, which has made clear its borders will remain closed. Dozens managed to pass, either through border fences or across the river there. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Migrants walk near the Pazarkule border crossing in Edirne, at the Turkish-Greek border on Monday, March 2, 2020. Thousands of migrants and refugees massed at Turkey's western frontier, trying to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those hoping to head to Europe. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Migrants try to cut the fence at the Turkish-Greek border during clashes with the Greek police near the Pazarkule border gate in Edirne, Turkey on Monday, March 2, 2020.Thousands of migrants and refugees massed at Turkey's western frontier, trying to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those hoping to head to Europe. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Migrants collect tree trunks to make fire in a field near Edirne, at the Turkish-Greek border on Monday, March 2, 2020. Thousands of migrants on Monday tried to find a way across the land border into Greece, which has made clear its borders will remain closed. Dozens managed to pass, either through border fences or across the river there. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Turkish Forces push back migrants as they gather near the Pazarkule border gate in Edirne, at the Turkish-Greek border on Monday, March 2, 2020. Thousands of migrants and refugees massed at Turkey's western frontier, trying to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those hoping to head to Europe. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Migrants stand behind a fence near the Kastanies border gate at the Greek-Turkish border, Monday, March 2, 2020. Thousands migrants massed at the Turkish-Greek border, and hundreds more crossed from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in dinghies over the weekend, after Turkey declared its borders open amid a Russia-backed Syrian government offensive into Syria's northwestern Idlib province. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
Migrants walk in Edirne, Turkey, at the Turkish-Greek border, Monday, March 2, 2020. Thousands of migrants and refugees massed at Turkey's western frontier, trying to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those hoping to head to Europe. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Greek soldiers fix the damages at a fence at the Kastanies border gate at the Greek-Turkish border, Monday, March 2, 2020. Thousands migrants massed at the Turkish-Greek border, and hundreds more crossed from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in dinghies over the weekend, after Turkey declared its borders open amid a Russia-backed Syrian government offensive into Syria's northwestern Idlib province. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
Migrants gather at Maritsa river (Evros river in Greek) in Edirne, Turkey, at the Turkish-Greek border, Monday, March 2, 2020. Thousands of migrants and refugees massed at Turkey's western frontier, trying to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those hoping to head to Europe. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Migrants gather at the Turkish-Greek border, in Edirne, Turkey on Monday, March 2, 2020. Thousands of migrants and refugees massed at Turkey's western frontier, trying to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those hoping to head to Europe. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Migrants approach the village of Skala Sikaminias, on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing on a dinghy the Aegean sea from Turkey on Monday, March 2, 2020. Thousands of migrants and refugees massed at Turkey's western frontier, trying to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those hoping to head to Europe. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
Migrants use inflatable boats as they attempt to enter Greece from Turkey by crossing the Maritsa river (Evros river in Greek) near the Pazarkule border gate in Edirne, Turkey, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Migrants and refugees were trying to enter Greece by land and by sea Sunday despite Greece making clear it would not allow anyone in, after Turkey officially declared its western borders open to those hoping to head into the European Union. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
In this Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 photograph a man reacts as he arrives with other migrants at the village of Skala Sikaminias, on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey. The United Nations migration organization said Sunday that at least 13,000 people were massed on Turkey's land border with Greece, after Turkey officially declared its western borders were open to migrants and refugees hoping to head into the European Union. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
Migrants stand near Kastanies border gate at the Greek-Turkish border, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country's borders with Europe were open Saturday, making good on a longstanding threat to let refugees into the continent as thousands of migrants gathered at the frontier with Greece. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
Migrants rest in Pazarkule border gate, Edirne, Turkey, at the Turkish-Greek border on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country's borders with Europe were open on Saturday, making good on a longstanding threat to let refugees into the continent as thousands of migrants gathered at the frontier with Greece. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Migrants gather between Pazarkule border gate, Edirne, Turkey, and Kastanies border gate, Evros, as they try to enter Greece, on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that his country's borders with Europe were open, as thousands of refugees gathered at the frontier with Greece. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to his ruling party's lawmakers, in Istanbul, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. Erdogan said Saturday that his country's borders with Europe were open, as thousands of refugees gathered at the frontier with Greece.(Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool)
Migrants run to avoid tear gas thrown by Greek police during clashes near the Pazarkule border gate in Edirne, at the Turkish-Greek border on Monday, March 2, 2020. Thousands of migrants and refugees massed at Turkey's western frontier, trying to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those hoping to head to Europe. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
ANKARA (AP) — Facing a potential wave of nearly a million people fleeing fighting in northern Syria, Turkey has thrown open its borders with Greece to thousands of refugees and other migrants trying to enter Europe, and has threatened to send “millions” more.
Greece responded by closing the land border, rushing in military and police reinforcements, and tried to stop migrant boats attempting the short but perilous crossing from the Turkish coast to its eastern islands.
Human rights organizations have called for urgent action to stop the situation from deteriorating further, warning of an unfolding humanitarian crisis.
Here is a look at the situation at the border, and at whether this the beginning of another migration crisis for Europe.
WHO ARE THE MIGRANTS GATHERED AT THE GREEK BORDER?
Turkey hosts 4 million refugees, some 3.6 million of them from Syria. Previously, their movement inside Turkey was strictly regulated and under a 2016 deal with the European Union, Turkey tightened border controls. Since Ankara announced last week that it would not impede those seeking to enter Europe, thousands of Afghans, Iranians, Syrians, Pakistanis and others from Africa and Asia have rushed to try their luck.
Although the push ostensibly stems from the conflict to Turkey’s south, Greek officials say very few of the recent arrivals are Syrians. Most of those arrested Monday were Afghans, Pakistanis and Moroccans. Figures from January, before the intensified fighting in Syria, show 35 percent of those who entered Greece from Turkey were Afghans. Syrians accounted for 14 percent.
HOW MANY HAVE CROSSED INTO GREECE?
By late Tuesday, Greek authorities had arrested and charged 218 people with illegal entry after crossing the land border with Turkey. About 26,500 attempts to pass have been thwarted since Saturday, although the pressure seemed to be slackening both on land and at sea.About 520 arrived on the Greek islands in the 24 hours up to Tuesday morning, down from nearly 1,000 a day earlier. According to the U.N.’s International Organization of Migration, 13,000 had gathered at the 212-kilometer (132-mile) border by Saturday evening. Turkey, meanwhile, says that more than 100,000 refugees have left its territory but there is no evidence to support this claim. Uneasy NATO allies Greece and Turkey are historic regional rivals who came close to war three times in the past half-century, and even before this crisis relations were tense over undersea exploration rights.
WHY HAS ERDOGAN OPENED THE GATES?
Turkey has long complained about the lack of support it receives for shouldering the burden of caring for the world’s largest refugee population. Despite the promise of 6 billion euros to pay for services for Syrians, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to renegotiate the deal with the EU. He says Turkey has spent $40 billion to date on hosting refugees. Ankara also seeks support for its policy in Syria, where it opposes Syrian President Bashar Assad and Kurdish fighters linked to the PKK, which has fought a 35-year insurgency inside Turkey. Erdogan wants to use some territory seized from the Kurds in October to resettle refugees from Turkey but the plan has met with little international support.
COULD THIS BE 2015 ALL OVER AGAIN?
In 2015, a million refugees reached Europe, crossing mainly from Turkey to Greece, and to a lesser degree from countries such as Libya to Italy. Although Erdogan said Monday that “millions” would soon be waiting to cross the Greek border, EU border states such as Greece and Bulgaria have quickly mobilized police, border guards and the military to deal with the scenario and seem better prepared to halt large-scale land crossings than in 2015. Sea crossings, however, are much harder to stop. With the Turkish coast guard doing nothing to halt migrant boats heading for the Greek islands, once the flimsy, overcrowded vessels are inside Greek waters they can’t be turned back. Very often, their occupants need to be rescued from sinking or crippled boats. Late last year arrivals in Greece were at their highest level since 2016, even before Turkey removed its border controls, and the EU fears a repeat of the crisis that triggered divisions among member states.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR GREECE?
Even before the current crisis, Greece was struggling to cope with tens of thousands of migrants who had entered from Turkey. Most want to continue to more prosperous EU countries such as Germany, but are stuck in Greece following border shutdowns in countries further along their route. Island migrant camps are many times above capacity — more than 20,000 people are on Lesbos alone — and living conditions there are dire. Under the EU-Turkey deal, new arrivals must stay on the islands until their asylum bids are processed, but the lengthy asylum process has led to a big backlog. Island residents are running out of patience after five years of bearing the brunt of Europe’s migrant influx, and Greek government efforts last week to build new detention camps on Lesbos and Chios provoked riots on the islands.
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Nicholas Paphitis reported from Athens, Greece.
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