- Title: Aid agency says Idomeni camp evacuation calm
- Date: 25th May 2016
- Summary: EVZONI, GREECE (MAY 25, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SEVERAL GREEK POLICE BUSES ON ROAD, TURNING, HEADING INTO IDOMENI CAMP ROAD INTERSECTION LEADING TO IDOMENI CAMP, JOURNALISTS AND MEDIA TRUCKS AT INTERSECTION (THEY ARE PROHIBITED FROM ENTERING IDOMENI) VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS AND CAMERAS VARIOUS OF BUSES PASSING INTERSECTION AFTER LEAVING IDOMENI CAMP, FULL OF MIGRANTS VARIOUS OF BUSES DRIVING DOWN ROAD WITH POLICE ESCORT (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES (MSF) SPOKESPERSON, VICKY MARKOLEFA, SAYING: "As you know, the evacuation process started yesterday, so over 2,000 people were moved to nearby camps. It's been a quiet night and the operation also started this morning. People are voluntarily getting on buses, it's a quite calm morning. Still there is quite a lot of insecurity and anxiety among the refugees, because they don't know where they are going. They were hoping for a more sustainable solution than just another camp and as MSF we share this concern. For the time being, the situation is quite calm." CAMERAS FILMING AT INTERSECTION (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES (MSF) SPOKESPERSON, VICKY MARKOLEFA, SAYING: "At the moment, still there are thousands of people here who need our medical support, so for the time being we will be in Idomeni because the needs are here for the moment, and we will assess the situation and see how to move accordingly in the next few days." GREEK POLICE HELICOPTER FLYING OVERHEAD
- Embargoed: 9th June 2016 10:01
- Keywords: refugees migrants European Union border Macedonia Greece asylum Idomeni camp
- Location: EVZONI, GREECE
- City: EVZONI, GREECE
- Country: Greece
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees
- Reuters ID: LVA0014JB2ZPJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A spokesperson for the aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Wednesday (May 25) migrants were voluntarily boarding buses to leave the makeshift camp of Idomeni on the Greek - Macedonia border for a second day without any incidents.
Spokesperson Vicky Markolefa said however the migrants were nervous about where they were being taken. Many are concerned that they will become trapped in the government camps for a long time and never make it to the rest of Europe.
"As you know, the evacuation process started yesterday, so over 2,000 people were moved to nearby camps. It's been a quiet night and the operation also started this morning. People are voluntarily getting on buses, it's a quite calm morning. Still there is quite a lot of insecurity and anxiety among the refugees, because they don't know where they are going. They were hoping for a more sustainable solution than just another camp and as MSF we share this concern. For the time being the situation is quite calm," she said.
"At the moment, still there are thousands of people here who need our medical support, so for the time being we will be in Idomeni because the needs are here for the moment, and we will assess the situation and see how to move accordingly in the next few days," added Markolefa.
Migrants are also concerned that the conditions at the government camps will not be much of an improvement on Idomeni.
On Tuesday (May 24), at the Oreokastro government camp near the city of Thessaloniki, migrants shouted to new arrivals not to get off the buses because of conditions there, a Reuters witness said.
Greece sent in police and bulldozers on Tuesday to knock down tents and relocate hundreds of migrants who had been stranded for months in the squalid camp.
A total of 2,031 people were moved on Tuesday, police said, 1,273 of them Kurds, 662 Syrians and 96 Yazidis. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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