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In Pictures: Migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos
At 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, a boat arrived on the north shores of the Greek island of Lesbos with 80 Afghan migrants. They are among the thousands of refugees and migrants seeking to make their way to European soil .
This upsurge in migration follows President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey announcement that he had opened his country’s borders for migrants to cross into Europe, saying that Turkey could no longer handle the numbers fleeing the war in Syria.
"What did we do yesterday? We opened the doors," Erdogan said in Istanbul.
"We will not close those doors.... Why? Because the European Union should keep its promises."
He was referring to a 2016 deal with the European Union to stop refugee flows in exchange for billions of euros in aid.
Turkey already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees.
Erdogan's comments were his first since 34 Turkish troops were killed since Thursday in northern Syria's Idlib region, where Moscow-backed Syrian regime forces are battling to retake the last rebel enclave.
Migrants have rushed to Turkey’s borders with Europe at Erdogan's announcement, some taking free rides on buses organized by Turkish officials, some taking boats to Greek islands such as Lesbos.
Around 13,000 migrants have gathered along the Turkish-Greek border, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said as several thousand migrants were in skirmishes with Greek police firing tear gas across the frontier.
One young Syrian migrant who spoke to Rudaw from the Turkish border near the city of Edirne on Saturday said:,"Turkey is a good and peaceful country, but there is no work there. Therefore, we had no choice but to move into Europe.”
A young Kurd from Khorasan in northeast Iran, also stationed at the border, told Rudaw why he was leaving Turkey.
“I have been in Turkey for three years , the Turkish government does not support refugees or migrants, they just give you an ID card and then say go" he said
"We came here because the [Turkish] government allowed us to come here and provided transport. We came in the hope of going towards Europe, but we are stuck. We can’t go forward, we can’t go back," said the young man of his reasons for being at the border.
Photos by Alla Shalli
This upsurge in migration follows President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey announcement that he had opened his country’s borders for migrants to cross into Europe, saying that Turkey could no longer handle the numbers fleeing the war in Syria.
"What did we do yesterday? We opened the doors," Erdogan said in Istanbul.
"We will not close those doors.... Why? Because the European Union should keep its promises."
He was referring to a 2016 deal with the European Union to stop refugee flows in exchange for billions of euros in aid.
Turkey already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees.
Erdogan's comments were his first since 34 Turkish troops were killed since Thursday in northern Syria's Idlib region, where Moscow-backed Syrian regime forces are battling to retake the last rebel enclave.
Migrants have rushed to Turkey’s borders with Europe at Erdogan's announcement, some taking free rides on buses organized by Turkish officials, some taking boats to Greek islands such as Lesbos.
Around 13,000 migrants have gathered along the Turkish-Greek border, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said as several thousand migrants were in skirmishes with Greek police firing tear gas across the frontier.
One young Syrian migrant who spoke to Rudaw from the Turkish border near the city of Edirne on Saturday said:,"Turkey is a good and peaceful country, but there is no work there. Therefore, we had no choice but to move into Europe.”
A young Kurd from Khorasan in northeast Iran, also stationed at the border, told Rudaw why he was leaving Turkey.
“I have been in Turkey for three years , the Turkish government does not support refugees or migrants, they just give you an ID card and then say go" he said
"We came here because the [Turkish] government allowed us to come here and provided transport. We came in the hope of going towards Europe, but we are stuck. We can’t go forward, we can’t go back," said the young man of his reasons for being at the border.
Photos by Alla Shalli
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In Pictures: Migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos
In Pictures: Migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos
In Pictures: Migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos
In Pictures: Migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos
In Pictures: Migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos
In Pictures: Migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos
In Pictures: Migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos
In Pictures: Migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos
In Pictures: Migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos
In Pictures: Migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos
In Pictures: Migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos
In Pictures: Migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos
In Pictures: Migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos