Despite closing of Balkans migrant route, many still arrive in Greece

The controversial closing of the Balkans route for migrants heading to Europe is not putting off thousands still arriving in Greece. Macedonian officials have closed its border with Greece, while Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia have also followed Austria in imposing strict limits. Many of the more than 15,000 migrants stuck at the Greek border say they are determined to stay. One man, Mohammed from Homs in Syria, said: “This decision maybe will be fair for the EU, but not fair for us, not for the people who came here and arrive to this point and after that, all the borders are closed in our faces. This is not fair.” The German Chancellor is one of those who agrees that the closing of the Balkan route is not the answer, saying it is unsustainable and Greece can’t be left to deal with the influx on its own. As negotiations go on with Turkey over what to do, another drowning has claimed the lives of five Afghans including two children and a six-month-old baby. (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));Baby among latest migrant drownings off Turkey …Posted by euronews on Thursday, 10 March 2016 And in the past 48 hours alone officials in Athens say the number of migrants in Greece has risen from 34,000 to 41,000. It says the coastguard has scrambled to rescue numerous boatloads, mainly off the islands of Lesbos and Chios. Negotiations continue over a complex EU-Turkey plan whereby Ankara would take back migrants in exchange for the EU resettling an equal number of Syrian refugees from Turkey. But human rights groups and the UN have warned that may breach international law, and now a Turkish minister says the deal would not cover migrants already in Greece but only new arrivals after any agreement is signed. There is now a bottleneck of more than 15,000 migrants along the Greek-Macedonian border. One migrant, Nidal from Syria, told reporters: “I’m sick of this, so tired and bored of this, just waiting for nothing. “I wait and wait and wait, and then there is nothing. I know that there is nothing at the end but I am waiting.” There is rising concern about the plight of the migrants at, including hundreds of children, in cold and wet conditions. Rain at Idomeni border camp making life miserable for 13K trapped asylum seekers & migrants as Balkan borders close. pic.twitter.com/qcivbe5GUQ— Peter Bouckaert (@bouckap) March 9, 2016 Christian Reynders from Doctors Without Borders said: “We fear that the number of children suffering from these conditions, these particular conditions, the humidity, the smoke inhalation, it will cause them severe damage to their lungs.” And still thousands of migrants keep arriving. Has Brussels dropped idea of Turkey joining EU? Bloc's leaders ‘turning a blind eye’ to Turkey’s press crackdown https://t.co/oG8SsLGc8I— Seamus Kearney (@seamuskearney_) March 9, 2016 Migrants stuck in Greek makeshift camp vow to stay put despite EU-Turkey deal https://t.co/1JKyBZSR5X— Seamus Kearney (@seamuskearney_) March 8, 2016 EU leaders torn over needing Turkish help with migration crisis https://t.co/XcRP6Fw9ic— Seamus Kearney (@seamuskearney_) March 7, 2016 Meet Noor, shes 24 and from #Syria. Back home she was a concert pianist. Here in #idomeni she's stuck in the mud. pic.twitter.com/MV1JluglL4— MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) March 9, 2016 It took this boy's family 2 weeks to get to the front of the line to cross #Idomeni – #Gevgelija UNICEFMK pic.twitter.com/UK6yNTismc

— UNICEF (UNICEF) March 8, 2016 Some 1,000 people arrive in #Idomeni daily. HRC_SAMARITES continue to provide healthcare & relief. #ProtectHumanity pic.twitter.com/mmM2WoMB1F

— IFRC (Federation) March 8, 2016 Syrian women, 9-months pregnant, slept on wet ground yest. Only here in search of safety for kids #Idomeni #IWD pic.twitter.com/tghdTN2gst— Fotis Filippou (@Fotis_Filippou) March 8, 2016 A child is surrounded by razor-topped wire at the Greek-Macedonian border #Idomenihttps://t.co/72IeSgC10c pic.twitter.com/o61r79J5b5— Brendan McDonald (@7piliers) March 8, 2016