- Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/SERBIA Over a thousand migrants enter Serbia from Macedonia
- Date: 24th August 2015
- Summary: SERBIAN SIDE OF THE BORDER WITH MACEDONIA, (AUGUST 24, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WALKING ON ROAD MAN CARRYING CHILD ON SHOULDERS WALKING / MIGRANTS WALKING VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WALKING MAN WALKING CARRYING CHILD WITH BOTTLE ON SHOULDERS/ WOMAN WALKING MIGRANTS WALKING ON ROAD MIGRANTS WALKING SHOWING "V" SIGN MIGRANTS WALKING / MIRATOVAC VILLAGE IN SIGHT MIGRANTS WALKING MIRATOVAC, SERBIA (AUGUST 24, 2015) (REUTERS) MIGRANTS ENTERING VILLAGE MIGRANTS WALKING ON STREET POLICE CAR ON STREET IN FRONT OF BUS CARRYING WOMEN AND CHILDREN ON BOARD MAN CARRYING CHILD ON SHOULDER
- Embargoed: 8th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Serbia
- Country: Serbia
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA2U3RICNELSX97W2DQ5ZA7PTKC
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: More than a thousand migrants crossed into Serbia from Macedonia early on Monday (August 24), near the village of Miratovac.
The migrants will be processed by the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration at a reception centre in nearby Presevo before being bused to the north of the country.
They follow the more than 5,000 people who crossed into Serbia on Sunday (August 23) after an overwhelmed Macedonia gave up its attempts to stem the flow of mainly Syrian refugees by force.
Macedonia declared a state of emergency on Thursday (August 20) and sealed its southern frontier to migrants pouring in at a rate of 2,000 per day.
The numbers had overwhelmed the main border railway station and the conservative government, which has a tense relationship with Greece, said enough was enough.
That led to desperate scenes at the border before crowds finally tore through police lines on Saturday (August 22).
The migrants, from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, are expected to continue their journey further north and cross by foot into Hungary and Europe's borderless Schengen zone.
Many had slept in the open on the Greek-Macedonian border with little access to food or water during havoc caused by Macedonia's closure of its southern frontier with Greece by security forces, who used stun grenades and tear gas in an attempt to keep the migrants out.
Thousands more were expected to arrive in Serbia in the coming days as Greece ferried refugees from inundated islands to the mainland.
A record 50,000 hit Greek land by boat from Turkey in July alone, bringing ripples of Middle Eastern conflicts to Europe's shores.
A car ferry carrying 2,466 migrants from Greek islands, most of them fleeing Syria, docked in Athens on Sunday morning. It left again two hours later to pick up more.
Almost all will head to Macedonia and then to Serbia. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None