Saturday, November 21, 2015

Blocked Muslim migrants protest at Greece-Macedonia border

IDOMENI, Greece (AP) — About 1,300 migrants gathered in the Greek town Idomeni have been protesting peacefully against the decision by Macedonian authorities across the border to turn away migrants who are not from war zones such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Most of the protesters were from Morocco, but some were also from Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Congo. They demanded to be allowed in, shouting slogans, such as "Freedom!" ''We are not terrorists" and "We are not going back." An undetermined number have also gone on hunger strike.

By early afternoon most protesters had withdrawn from the border and set up tents a short distance away.

Macedonian authorities took the decision to exclude migrants from non-war countries earlier this week on the heels of similar action by Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. The excluded migrants have been camping in Idomeni for three days.