- Title: Migrants watch Obama motorcade pass through Athens
- Date: 15th November 2016
- Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (NOVEMBER 15, 2016) (REUTERS) STREET WHERE U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S MOTORCADE WILL PASS / ABANDONED AIRPORT WHERE HUNDREDS OF MIGRANTS ARE LIVING ABANDONED AIRPORT BUILDINGS / MIGRANTS AROUND SITE VARIOUS OF MIGRANT CHILDREN PLAYING ON STREET BY BUILDINGS VARIOUS OF MIGRANT CHILDREN PLAYING A GAME IN THE DIRT VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS STANDING ON BALCONY OF OLD AIRPORT TERMINAL LOOKING OUT MIGRANT CHILDREN SITTING ON COUCH VARIOUS OF MIGRANT CHILDREN ON COUCH WATCHING MOTORCADE PASS GREEK POLICE HELICOPTER FLYING OVER CENTRAL ATHENS EMPTY STREETS AND SQUARE IN FRONT OF GREEK PARLIAMENT PIGEONS ON SQUARE POLICEMEN STANDING VARIOUS OF PEOPLE TAKING PICTURES WITH THEIR MOBILE PHONES AND WAITING FOR MOTORCADE TO PASS MOTORCADE MOTORCADE PASSING IN FRONT OF GREEK PARLIAMENT ARMORED VEHICLES DECORATED WITH US AND GREEK FLAGS, ONE OF WHICH IS CARRYING OBAMA, DRIVING PAST PARLIAMENT VARIOUS OF MOTORCADE
- Embargoed: 30th November 2016 15:25
- Keywords: Obama motorcade Greece migrants refugees
- Location: ATHENS, GREECE
- City: ATHENS, GREECE
- Country: Greece
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00158K3LMV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Migrants stranded for months in the Greek capital watched on Tuesday (November 15) as U.S. President Barack Obama's motorcade passed by the disused airport where they have been living in difficult and unsanitary conditions.
The country of 11 million people has been caught in a migrant crisis, with over 60,000 migrants and refugees stranded in Greece after their onwards journey into Europe was sealed off this year as borders were shut in the Balkans.
During his meeting with Greece's president, Obama said no single country should bear the burden of the migrant and refugee crisis.
Obama, who is visiting Greece as part of his last foreign tour as president of the United States, is staying at a luxury seaside resort on a peninsula south of Athens, less than 15 km. (9 miles) from the abandoned airport.
A group of children played in the dirt outside the abandoned terminal while others sat on a battered old sofa and watched as Obama's motorcade sped past them.
Some Athens residents cheered as Obama's motorcade passed by Greek parliament through the empty streets closed off by police.
Protests are planned later on Tuesday by leftist groups and labor unions.
Police sources said 5,000 Greek police are guarding the visit, including snipers, as well as bomb explosive experts and police sniffer dogs. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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