STREAMS OF REFUGEES FLOW INTO MACEDONIA FROM GREECE
Athen, 9 Dzulqo’dah 1436/24 August 2015 (MINA) – Hundreds of refugees have passed through the Macedonian border from Greece unhindered a day after police used stun grenades in a failed bid to prevent them from crossing.
Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons, reporting from Gevgelija as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) on the Macedonian side of the border, said the refugees were boarding trains to take them from Macedonia to Serbia.
The refugees hope that by taking trains through Serbia, they will make it to Hungary and other EU member states.
We are humans. We are not animals. We ran away from death and came here to die from the border police?
Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull, reporting from Idomeni on the Greek side of the border, said the railway between the two nations was working again on Sunday.
“It is calm here. There is a free flow of movement as the Macedonian police allow small groups through,” he said.
“There are lines and lines of refugees making their way to this point and there is no sign in the bigger picture that this flow is going to stop or slow down anytime soon.”
Police and security remained at the border on Sunday, checking the refugees belongings and bags as they allowed them to pass through.
“Heavy diggers at work are essentially clearing the ground alongside these railway tracks where over 2-3 acres are covered with human waste, abandoned tents, abandoned bags, clothing, children’s toys, and empty bottles of water,” Hull said.
Our correspondent said that while hundreds on Saturday night had managed to cross the border by sprinting through open fields, many others had been sent back to Greece, where they alleged harsh treatment from Macedonian police and showed Al Jazeera their injuries.
One Syrian refugee told Al Jazeera what is happening to them is not what they expected when they fled Syria.
“We just want to pass or at least let those who are sick or with children pass. We are humans. We are not animals. We ran away from death and came here to die from the border police? Or from the cold?” the refugee said.
“Is it our fault there is fighting in our country? This is not fair.
“We are nothing to them, our passports are nothing to them. Imagine if this were you in our place, we have children. Don’t you have children? Wouldn’t you want the same?”
Ahmed Satuf, another refugee from Idlib in Syria, told Al Jazeera he didn’t want anything from Macedonia, except for being allowed to cross its borders.
“I’m not a terrorist. We are humans. Where’s the humanity? Where’s the world? Everyone here, they are families,” he said.
“We don’t need anything. We don’t need money. Let us cross. I want to go to Germany.”(T/P008/R03)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
