The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Athens / AFP
Greece is planning a police operation early Tuesday to evacuate the squalid migrant camp of Idomeni on its border with Macedonia, a report said on Monday.
Citing police sources, Greek TV station Mega said police reinforcements had been dispatched from Athens to help relocate some 8,500 people from the camp where thousands of migrants and refugees have been stranded since the Balkans states closed their borders in mid February. Speaking to AFP, a police source confirmed an operation was in the works but declined to confirm it would be on Tuesday.
Another police source said reinforcements had been moved to the area “to forestall reactions by a minority of migrants who could have a negative response” but denied that a forceful evacuation was imminent.
“Most of the migrants would not have a problem with leaving… some additional precautions are taken to avoid having unpleasant developments,” the second officer said, while denying there would be a full-scale evacuation of the camp. Over the past two weeks, some 2,500 people had left the camp following efforts to persuade them to relocate to more organised camps, the source said.