Disease control experts have been sent to a squalid refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian border to help a large number of children and pregnant in desperate need of medical attention.
Two mobile units from Greece's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention began operating today in Idomeni, where some 14,000 migrants are stranded in slum-like conditions.
The refugees have been trapped there after a cascade of border shutdowns caused a series of bottlenecks along the so-called 'Balkans corridor' leading further north.
But they have vowed to keep trying to cross despite a build-up of rubbish and pools of filthy, stagnant water around them and being forced to scavenge for food. MailOnline found one family heating up grass to feed to their children.
Aid workers overrun by desperate families say an outbreak of diarrhoea has left children seriously ill with limited medical facilities on site.
'We will stay here even if we all die,' said Kadriya Jasem, a 25-year-old from Aleppo in Syria as she held a four-month-old baby in her arms who she said needed a doctor. 'Please open the border, if only for the children,' she wailed.
Tempers fray: Migrants waiting to cross the Greek-Macedonian border fight between themselves at a camp near the village of Idomeni
One man lies curled up in a ball on the ground while other migrants scuffle around him as anger boils over at the camp in Idomeni
Announcing the deployment of the disease experts, Yiannis Baskozos, general secretary of Greece's Health Ministry, warned there was 'a large number of children, young women and pregnant women that require attention' at the camp.
He said: 'At this time we do not have any cases of concern (of disease outbreak). There is always that danger and we are monitoring this possibility. But there is no reason to panic.'
Tempers boiled over earlier today, however, when a fight broke out between a group of migrant men, some of them brandishing sticks. Pictures showed one man curled up in a ball on the ground as others scuffled around him.
Aid workers struggling to feed and care say the situation is becoming explosive as hundreds more arrive each day.
Many of the tents are now largely packed with women and children anxious to be reunited with husbands and fathers who have already made it to Germany.
But their desperation has intensified after it emerged that Germany was looking to limit the rights of refugees to have their families join them.
It means that in February, for the first time since the asylum seekers started arriving en masse, the numbers of women and children exceeded the men.
In the queues outside, some of the refugees waved German flags and pleaded with Chancellor Angela Merkel to save them.
Refugees stand near puddles of filthy, stagnant water as they wait to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near Idomeni, northern Greece
Slum: The refugees have been trapped there after a series of border shutdowns caused bottlenecks along the so-called 'Balkans corridor'
Refugees stand near tents at the holding camp in Idomeni. They have vowed to keep trying to cross, hours after EU leaders declared an end to a mass scramble to reach wealthy countries and despite a build-up of rubbish and pools of filthy, stagnant water around them
When they saw reporters, all they wanted to know is when the borders would be re-opened so they can move on to Germany.
They complain they don't have any warm food, with many scavenging in forests for supplies.
MailOnline found one family heating up grass to feed their children.
Bulgarian aid worker, Lora Khaha, 24, from NGO Fenix Aid, said: 'When we got here, we thought we might be able to help out a bit and were going to just stay for three days.
'We ended up cooking 8,000 vegetable soups a day and it's not enough, because there are 13,000 people wanting food. They are going out into the fields gathering plants and cooking them up.
'It is unsurprising that many of the children in particular are suffering health problems and there is currently an outbreak of diarrhoea which has left some of the children seriously ill, with limited medical facilities at the camp meaning that they need to be transferred by ambulance to Athens.'
Red Cross worker Despina Filipidaki added: 'We are doing our best but there are so many people here, it would be much better to send the sick children to the nearby hospital in Macedonia, but because the borders are closed we can't get them there and are having to send them to Athens.
'The problem is that this was meant to be a transit camp and it's not long-term accommodation.
'This only ever been 3,000 people a day here and now there are simply too many to cope with.'
A migrant woman tries to keep her child warm near fire at the northern Greek border station of Idomeni. Greek officials say Macedonia has imposed further restrictions on refugees trying to cross the border, saying only those from cities they consider to be at war can enter
Agony: The Greek health minister says a large number of children and pregnant women need medical attention after the border was shut
Many tents are largely packed with women and children anxious to be reunited with husbands and fathers who have made it to Germany
Aid workers struggling to feed and care say the situation is becoming explosive as hundreds more arrive each day
Tempers are frayed and attacks among each other and on refugee workers no longer uncommon.
At one point, MailOnline reporters had to flee a special tent playing cartoons for children when violence broke out between women who screamed and attacked each other.
Outside aid workers said they had also been attacked by people standing in queues to receive water, sandwiches and nappies.
Volunteer Soufiane Fakhoury, from the NGO Praksis Thessaloniki, said she and others were working round the clock but they don't have enough staff to help all the refugees.
She said: 'We give them sandwiches, dippers and baby milk formula but often we are attacked because the people here are losing their temper waiting in lines to get food.
'We have mothers all the time asking if we have warm clothing for the children.'
But even the tents there are flooded with water, the migrants refuse to move to another dry and empty camp some 20km away because they want to be as close to the border in case it opens.
A young migrant who is waiting to cross the Greek-Macedonian border, stands at a makeshift camp near the village of Idomeni, Greece
there was no sign the pressure was easing as would-be migrants on Turkey's Aegean coast vowed to continue attempting perilous sea crossings to Greece, where at least 34,000 people are trapped in various parts of the country
MailOnline spoke to one woman who claimed that people registered at the shelter further inland are put on a two-month waiting list before they were allocated a place in an EU country.
She said: 'Nobody wants to wait that long.'
All claimed to be from Syria, but it is understood many were being sent back at the border, with some claiming their paperwork had been ripped up after it was declared to be fake.
Macedonian officials denied destroying documents.
And there was no sign the pressure was easing as would-be migrants on Turkey's Aegean coast vowed to continue attempting perilous sea crossings to Greece, where at least 34,000 people are trapped in various parts.
It came after EU leaders agreed an in-principle deal with Turkey aimed at finally tackling the crisis.
Ankara has tabled a 'one-for-one' plan to take back all illegal Syrian migrants in exchange for the EU resettling an equal number of genuine refugees directly from Turkey.
A migrant child stands beside tents near the village of Idomeni, Greece, with messages begging the United Nations for help with the crisis
Desperately trying to keep warm: A migrant woman lights a fire at the northern Greek border station of Idomeni
After 12 hours of talks in Brussels, EU leaders hailed the offer as a 'game-changing' breakthrough in attempts to stem the flow of asylum seekers into the Continent.
But critics condemned it as a 'dirty' and 'catastrophic' deal amid fears it could make the problem worse by creating a 'migrant merry-go-round' that could bring hundreds of thousands more refugees to the bloc.
Turkey has also been accused of holding Europe to ransom by demanding it doubles its current offer of funding to €6billion to deal with the 2.9million refugees in the country.
The draft deal will see Ankara take back all migrants that land on the Greek islands. But for each Syrian returned, the EU would accept a Syrian from a camp in Turkey and resettle them in Europe.
This could create an incentive for Turkey to allow many more illegal Syrian refugees through to Greece because for every one sent back, Europe would then take a Syrian from Turkish camps, which would not have happened before the deal.
This could potentially bring hundreds of thousands more migrants into Europe by the time the deal expires in December 2018.
Turkey has also demanded visa-free travel in Europe for its citizens by June and faster talks on it joining the EU, all moves critics say will only intensify the crisis.
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét