Migrants block train line at Greek border
A group of migrants at Greece's border with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) blocked a rail line Thursday in protest at Skopje’s refusal to let them in to continue their route toward Western Europe.
The group lay down on the Greek side of the train track, preventing a freight train that had just crossed from FYROM from continuing its journey south.
Some 10,000 people are blocked at the border. FYROM authorities have said they will only let in as many people as the next country on the route, Serbia, takes. Greek police said that in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. Thursday, 500 people were allowed to cross.
Some of those, however, were then turned back by FYROM authorities who said their papers were not in order. One man fainted after he was turned back.
The migrants said FYROM did not accept computer-generated stamps issued by the Greek police, and therefore they could not prove their identity documents are genuine.
Adnan Abdallah from Syria had waited to cross from Greece to FYROM for three days, but when he finally was let through, he was turned back because the stamp on his refugee document is computer-generated.
"They say here (in Greece) everything is OK, but on the other side this is not acceptable," a frustrated Abdallah told The Associated Press. [AP]
