Greek police on Tuesday moved hundreds of migrants out of the overcrowded camp of Idomeni, launching a major operation to clear up the squalid tent city where thousands fleeing war and poverty had lived for months.
In an operation that began shortly after sunrise, Greek police said they had put more than 1,500 people on buses to newly opened camps near Greece's second city Thessaloniki, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) to the south.
"All is going well, thank God, perhaps even better than we expected," a police source in Athens told AFP.
The makeshift, overcrowded and muddy camp on the Macedonia border has become a potent symbol of human suffering and chaos as Europe struggles to cope with its worst migrant crisis since World War II.
Most media were kept at a distance, but footage and images handed out by state TV ERT and state agency ANA, who were allowed access, showed migrants patiently queueing up to board buses and being driven away, some waving at the camera.
Many carried their worldly goods in huge bin bags, while others piled belongings into pushchairs, watched at a distance by groups of dark blue-clad police in white helmets.
A group of children -- one of them a young boy riding an apparently discarded wheelchair -- played nearby as they waited for their turn to leave.
Authorities said priority would be given to unaccompanied minors and single-parent families.
The transfer comes after a brutal winter of freezing rain and mud which saw many people trying to force their way across the border, sometimes resulting in violent encounters with the Macedonian police.
"They were tired, presumably they realised that the border is not going to open, and recent rains were the last straw," the police source said.
At midday, bulldozers moved in to clear out tents, according to tweets from activists at the camp.
According to local police, around 100 migrants decided not to enter the new camps and set off for Thessaloniki city on foot.
- 'High insecurity' -
Many in the camp are fleeing war, persecution and poverty in the Middle East and Asia.
And Doctors Without Borders (MSF) representative Vicky Markolefa told AFP there was "high insecurity" and "an increase in stress" for the migrants who are "not fully aware of where they are going and what will come for them in the next days."
In Geneva, the UN refugee agency said it was sending additional staff to help the process.
"It's important that organised movements are voluntary, non-discriminatory, and based on well-informed choices by the individuals at the moment," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told reporters.
However Markolefa noted that a police cordon thrown around the camp -- mainly to keep media out -- had also prevented access for many humanitarian workers.
"This complicates food handout efforts and sanitation maintenance for those who will remain in the camp," she told AFP.
- A 10-day process -
At its height, more than 12,000 people crammed into Idomeni, a camp aid groups originally opened last year to accommodate just 2,500 people during what was, at the time, a short procedure to cross the border.
But the camp exploded in size after Balkan states began closing their borders in mid-February to stem the human tide seeking passage to northern Europe.
On Monday, Greece's migration spokesman Yiorgos Kyritsis said the operation to clear all 8,400 people living there would take at least 10 days.
Officials have said 6,000 spots are available at reception centres, with most of the migrants to be moved to camps at former industrial facilities near Thessaloniki.
Many of the camp's residents are women and children desperate to be reunited with male relatives who have forged ahead on their own -- with the aid of smugglers -- hoping to find a place of refuge for their families in EU states more financially viable than debt-hit Greece.
The leftist government of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has for months been trying to persuade migrants to move away from makeshift tent encampments at Idomeni and at the port of Piraeus for their own comfort and safety.
- 2,000 rescued off Libya -
Greek officials have managed to convince some 2,500 people to leave Idomeni, while the number at Piraeus was brought down from around 5,000 people in March to 1,500.
But many are wary of relocating to organised camps away from the border or Athens, because it could be harder to find people-smuggling contacts.
There are over 54,000 migrants stranded in Greece, according to government estimates.
So far this year, the International Organisation for Migration says an estimated 190,000 migrants and refugees have entered Europe by sea, arriving in Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain. Another 1,359 have died en route.
Greek police on Tuesday moved hundreds of migrants out of the overcrowded camp of Idomeni, launching a major operation to clear up the squalid tent city where thousands fleeing war and poverty had lived for months.
In an operation that began shortly after sunrise, Greek police said they had put more than 1,500 people on buses to newly opened camps near Greece’s second city Thessaloniki, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) to the south.
“All is going well, thank God, perhaps even better than we expected,” a police source in Athens told AFP.
The makeshift, overcrowded and muddy camp on the Macedonia border has become a potent symbol of human suffering and chaos as Europe struggles to cope with its worst migrant crisis since World War II.
Most media were kept at a distance, but footage and images handed out by state TV ERT and state agency ANA, who were allowed access, showed migrants patiently queueing up to board buses and being driven away, some waving at the camera.
Many carried their worldly goods in huge bin bags, while others piled belongings into pushchairs, watched at a distance by groups of dark blue-clad police in white helmets.
A group of children — one of them a young boy riding an apparently discarded wheelchair — played nearby as they waited for their turn to leave.
Authorities said priority would be given to unaccompanied minors and single-parent families.
The transfer comes after a brutal winter of freezing rain and mud which saw many people trying to force their way across the border, sometimes resulting in violent encounters with the Macedonian police.
“They were tired, presumably they realised that the border is not going to open, and recent rains were the last straw,” the police source said.
At midday, bulldozers moved in to clear out tents, according to tweets from activists at the camp.
According to local police, around 100 migrants decided not to enter the new camps and set off for Thessaloniki city on foot.
– ‘High insecurity’ –
Many in the camp are fleeing war, persecution and poverty in the Middle East and Asia.
And Doctors Without Borders (MSF) representative Vicky Markolefa told AFP there was “high insecurity” and “an increase in stress” for the migrants who are “not fully aware of where they are going and what will come for them in the next days.”
In Geneva, the UN refugee agency said it was sending additional staff to help the process.
“It’s important that organised movements are voluntary, non-discriminatory, and based on well-informed choices by the individuals at the moment,” UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told reporters.
However Markolefa noted that a police cordon thrown around the camp — mainly to keep media out — had also prevented access for many humanitarian workers.
“This complicates food handout efforts and sanitation maintenance for those who will remain in the camp,” she told AFP.
– A 10-day process –
At its height, more than 12,000 people crammed into Idomeni, a camp aid groups originally opened last year to accommodate just 2,500 people during what was, at the time, a short procedure to cross the border.
But the camp exploded in size after Balkan states began closing their borders in mid-February to stem the human tide seeking passage to northern Europe.
On Monday, Greece’s migration spokesman Yiorgos Kyritsis said the operation to clear all 8,400 people living there would take at least 10 days.
Officials have said 6,000 spots are available at reception centres, with most of the migrants to be moved to camps at former industrial facilities near Thessaloniki.
Many of the camp’s residents are women and children desperate to be reunited with male relatives who have forged ahead on their own — with the aid of smugglers — hoping to find a place of refuge for their families in EU states more financially viable than debt-hit Greece.
The leftist government of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has for months been trying to persuade migrants to move away from makeshift tent encampments at Idomeni and at the port of Piraeus for their own comfort and safety.
– 2,000 rescued off Libya –
Greek officials have managed to convince some 2,500 people to leave Idomeni, while the number at Piraeus was brought down from around 5,000 people in March to 1,500.
But many are wary of relocating to organised camps away from the border or Athens, because it could be harder to find people-smuggling contacts.
There are over 54,000 migrants stranded in Greece, according to government estimates.
So far this year, the International Organisation for Migration says an estimated 190,000 migrants and refugees have entered Europe by sea, arriving in Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain. Another 1,359 have died en route.
