Greek authorities have started removing thousands of migrants and refugees from a makeshift camp near the Macedonian border, where they have been stranded since Macedonia closed its border in February.
Police vehicles and buses will move the migrants from the Idomeni camp to better-structured facilities farther south, near the city of Thessaloniki, the BBC reported. Some 10,000 asylum seekers are staying at the squalid camp, where food and sanitary facilities are in short supply.
Many of the migrants have previously refused to abandon the camp, saying doing so would displace them away from the border — a necessary crossing point on the journey into northern Europe, where most of them are headed. More than 1 million refugees, many escaping conflicts in the Middle East, have entered the E.U. by crossing the Mediterranean Sea since early last year. Officials in Europe, who have struggled to keep the influx of immigrants under control, signed a deal in March that planned to send migrants back to Turkey if their asylum claims are refused.
Inside the Tiny Greek Village on the Front Lines of the Migrant Crisis
The refugee camp has spread on the grounds of the EKO petrol station near Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxLazarous Oulis, a farmer and owner of the Kantina food truck
Oulis started selling drinks and sandwiches to refugees to supplement the loss of his farming income this season. Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxLazarous Oulis, a livestock farmer
Lazaros Oulis stands in a field where he used to plant crops to grow animal feed. Since Sept. 2015, refugee tents have spread on nearly 250 acres of his land, all the way to the border with Macedonia, preventing him from working on his harvest and resulting in losses of 20,000 Euros. Idomeni, Greece. April, 2016Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxRefugee tents have spread on nearly 250 acres of Lazarous Oulis' farm land. He claims to have lost 20,000 Euros in revenues, for which he says he has not received any compensation. Idomeni, Greece. April, 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxYoung Syrian men rest in a park in Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxXauthoula Soupli, mayor of Idomeni
Xauthoula Soupli was elected Mayor of Idomeni two years ago. She says she is overwhelmed to see more than 10,000 people in a village with a local population of 140. Her office has recently been broken into, with chairs and papers used to burn for firewood. Idomeni, Greece, April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxRefugee tents have spread to the village's railway platforms. Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxNopi Pantelidou (left) and Gianna Konstantinidou, villagers Both women work in the kitchen at a cafe in Idomeni. A small canteen that used to serve local residents and others passing through the Idomeni train station is now overflown with refugees. Idomeni, Greece, April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxIn the small canteen, refugees come to charge their phones and tablets and use the free WiFi. Some can afford a meal, but most pass their time playing cards, smoking and making calls to relatives abroad. Idomeni, Greece, April 2016Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxBoys play by the pond near the border with Macedonia. Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxPanagiota Vasiliadou, 82, villager, and Saha, a 30-year-old refugee from Syria Panagiota Vasiliadou hosts eight Syrian refugees in her home. Panagiota is paying for food, while the women help cook the meals. Her water and electricity bill more than doubled since she has welcomed them in her home. She says she cannot afford to support eight adults with her pension of 400 Euros a month, but she does not know how to tell them to leave. Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxSaha, a 30-year-old refugee from Damascus, SyriaSaha has a degree in cosmetology and is fluent in French. When she was 18 years old, she apprenticed at a beauty salon in Paris. She worked in a salon in Damascus before she decided to leave for Europe. Ever since her arrival in Idomeni she has been living in Panagiota's house. "I know I can't stay here forever, but with the border closed, I have no place to go at the moment. I don't know how to plan my future," she says. Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxRefugees hang their clothes to dry on the barbwire fence of the border with Macedonia. Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxA man takes a shower with ground water coming from a pipe regularly used by farmers to irrigate fields around Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxNicos Spiridis, 21, baker
"Bread was sold [in Idomeni] for 4 Euros when I came first. Everyone needed bread and nobody was selling it at a fair price," he says. Spiridis brought his truck to Idomeni from a nearby town, selling bread for 80 Euro cents at the refugee camp in Idomeni, Greece, April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxPackaged food and snacks for sale in the courtyard of an Albanian family that had come to Idomeni, Greece as refugees 25 years ago. The family members sell food and drinks to the refugees from the porch of their home. Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxMembers of an Albanian family, themselves refugees, sell food and drinks to the newly arrived refugees from the porch of their home in Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxRefugees charge their phones through extension cords connected to a generator on the street behind the train station in Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxAntonia Mikropolou, 74, a shopkeeper in Idomeni
Antonia Mikropolou is cordial with the refugees that come to buy snacks, drinks and cigarettes. Since the inflow of refugees, this small convenience store has been turning much higher profits than before. Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxA Syrian family eats in a park in Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxA Syrian girl plays in a park outside a school in Idomeni. The school was used as storage for food supplies until it was recently looted. Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBoxRefugee tents stand on the grounds of the Hara hotel, cafe and petrol station in Idomeni, Greece. April 2016.Rena Effendi for TIME LightBox
Macedonia closed its border in February, following the lead of other European nations. The situation has resulted in a human bottleneck in Greece, where some 50,000 asylum seekers remain stranded.
Greek authorities say they aim to completely clear the makeshift camp in Idomeni village within 10 days.
“A thing like Idomeni cannot be maintained. It only serves the interests of smugglers,” government spokesperson Giorgos Kyritsis said on Greek television Monday, according to the BBC. He added that the relocation effort is in “their own interest,” referring to the refugees.
“The fundamental thing is for the people to be transferred to where the conditions are humane,” he said.
