Wave of EU-bound migrants crosses into Serbia

Associates Press

MIRATOVAC, Serbia — Exhausted migrants by the thousands, some pushed in wheelchairs or on wheelbarrows, others hobbling on crutches or carrying young children, crossed on foot from Macedonia into Serbia on Monday as they sought to reach Western Europe.

The rush over the border by the migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa followed Macedonia’s decision to lift the blockade of its border with Greece, after thousands stormed past Macedonian police who tried to stop their entry by force.

Nearly 10,000 people, including many women with babies and small children mostly from Syria, crossed into Serbia over the weekend.

Hundreds more entered Macedonia from Greece on Monday, as scuffles broke out between the migrants and police, who sought to stem the flow by letting in only small groups at a time. A pregnant migrant from Aleppo, Syria, was slightly injured in the scuffle.

The new surge of migrants has worried EU politicians and left the impoverished Balkan countries struggling to cope with the humanitarian crisis.

Visiting Macedonia on Monday, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz talked to migrants and shook hands with them. He also said Greece needed to control its borders more effectively.

“This is a humanitarian disaster. This is a real disaster for the whole European Union and I think there is the real need to have more focus on this problem, not only on the route through Italy but also on the route on the Western Balkans,” Kurz said.

A man from Syria, Imad Shoumali, told Kurz in broken English that the migrants had no choice but “to come here, to find safe zone, to find good future for us, for our family, for our kids.”

“We lost everything in Syria, you have to help us to finish the war in Syria,” he said. “If you finish now I am back from this point, directly. I don’t like to come to Europe.”

In Austria, police said 37 people were injured — seven seriously — when two vans packed with migrants collided Monday near the Hungarian border. Dozens more migrants fled, along with the suspected smugglers.

After entering Serbia, the migrants head toward EU-member Hungary, from where they want to try to reach richer EU countries, such as Germany and Sweden.

After they formally ask for asylum, migrants have three days to reach the border with Hungary which is rushing to build a barbed wire fence on its border with Serbia to block them.

Late Monday, thousands boarded buses and trains that took them to Serbia’s northern border with Hungary, where they will try to enter Hungary illegally.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said Monday that although the migrant influx is “huge,” Serbia won’t “build walls or put them in containers and drive them out of the country.”

Meanwhile, Greece’s coast guard was searching for at least five people missing at sea after the dinghy they were using to cross from Turkey overturned off the coast of the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos.

The coast guard said it had rescued six people and recovered the bodies of two men, and was searching the area for the missing. Survivors told authorities they had been in a boat carrying about 15 people when it overturned.

Greece has been overwhelmed by an influx of mainly refugees reaching its islands from Turkey.

The Greek coast guard said it had picked up 877 people in 30 search and rescue operations since early Friday near the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos and Kos. The figures do not include the hundreds that manage to make it to the islands, mostly in inflatable dinghies.

Kurz noted that under EU treaties, known as the Dublin accords, asylum-seekers are supposed to apply for asylum in the first EU country they reach. Greece and Italy, where nearly all those seeking to enter the EU arrive, argue that this places a massively unfair burden on countries on the EU periphery.

“I think there’s a need for border control, at least on the outlines of the European Union. And the second point is, it’s also the fault of Greece if there is no support for the refugees there,” Kurz said.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.