Christian Skaug 
Migranter i Istanbul forsøker å komme seg ombord på en buss til grensen mellom Tyrkia og Hellas den 28. februar 2020. Foto: Yagiz Karahan / Reuters / Scanpix.
Myndighetene i Hellas trapper opp sikkerheten på grensen etter rapporter om at Tyrkia ikke lenger vil stanse syriske flyktninger som forsøker å dra til Europa. Det opplyser kilder i det greske statsapparatet til Kathimerini.
“Greece has intensified the guarding of its land and sea borders to the greatest possible extent,” a source close to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said following increased turmoil in the Syrian city of Idlib, where nearly a million refugees have been displaced.
“Following the developments in Idlib, Athens is in constant contact with the European Union and NATO,” the source said after 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike by Russian-backed Syrian forces in the northwestern city, prompting Ankara to threaten to respond in kind.
Flere nyhetsmedier melder om hundretalls av migranter i Tyrkia som beveger seg i retning Hellas, og vitnesbyrd som peker i samme retning, sirkulerer i sosiale medier. Foruten syrere skal også migranter fra flere andre land i Midtøsten være på vei.
I Istanbul har syrere begynt å organisere busstransport til Tyrkias yttergrense, skriver The Guardian.
Også de greske øyene ser ut til å stå overfor et større migrasjonstrykk:
Turkish television also reported that migrants had gathered in the western Turkish coastal district of Ayvacık, in Çanakkale province, with the aim of travelling by boat to Lesbos island in Greece.
Noen migranter begir seg i retning av Bulgaria:
The NTV channel showed scores of people walking through fields wearing backpacks and said the refugees had tried to cross the Kapıkule border into Bulgaria, but were not allowed through.
Bulgaria trapper også opp grensekontrollen, melder FOCUS News agency.
Refugees gathered in Fatih, Istanbul, today after 5 buses brought by Turkey already left toward the Greek/Bulgarian border. Syrians know they are being used, but they don't care. They want to live without fear. pic.twitter.com/0Z4CwrbKtc
— Elizabeth Tsurkov🌻 (@Elizrael) February 28, 2020
