According to the Syrian organizers, the “Caravan of Light” counts 100,000 refugees
The “caravan of light” – a convoy of thousands of illegal migrants, mainly from Syria, has gathered in Edirne and is preparing for the assault on the Greek border, Focus news agency reports. The aim of the refugees is to cross the EU border together and, moving north through the Balkans, to western Europe and their final destination: Germany.
The agency cited Turkish TV channel Orient, which also aired videos of the crowd with drones. It was also widely distributed on social networks. However, fact-checking by French public media France24 showed that the video was shot during the great migration to Europe in 2015 and did not reflect the current campaign.
Three days ago, the Guardian reported that the crowd asked the United Nations to protect them from “all forms of physical, psychological and political violence”. The refugees also want the Syrian government to undertake diplomatic efforts in the EU “to open its doors to this convoy or to find immediate solutions”. Since the beginning of September, Syrians have been drawing travel plans through their Telegram channel, which has more than 85,000 followers, the British newspaper recalled.
Yuko Narushima, a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, told the Guardian that the agency was aware of the organization’s social media reports of large movements of people from Turkey to the EU, but had not participated. or encouraged.
The organizers, believed to be Syrian refugees themselves, told people to bring sleeping bags, tents, life jackets, water, preserves and first aid kits. The actual number of people in the caravan is unclear, but organizers say around 100,000 people are expected.
Syrian refugees number more than 3.5 million in Turkey, where recent reports of growing tensions and violence against Syrians in parts of the country have been reported. In a statement, the organizers explained that the caravan, “emerged from the womb of the revolution”, was driven by the “aberrant racism” to which they had been exposed by “some parties of the Turkish Republic” and which would lead to an increase in killings. of Syrians. The convoy organizers cited pressure to return to the Syrian regime areas as the reason for the decision, which would mean putting one’s life at risk again.
About 400 people have already been forced to return to their homes in Idlib after attempting to cross the Syrian border with Turkey to join the caravan, but have been attacked by hardline Islamic fighters.
According to the European Insider Twitter account, about 1,500 men attempted to cross the Turkish border at the Maritsa River on 22 September, but were pushed back by Greek border forces. This was confirmed by the Ministry of Civil Protection of our southern neighbor. The same source claims that the big storm is scheduled for today (Saturday). Organizers say this is just the beginning: in total, up to ten of these “convoys” could be formed this fall, adds “Focus”.
The situation was also noted by the Bulgarian authorities. Yesterday, the regional governor of Haskovo, Minko Angelov, declared a partial state of emergency due to the pressure of migrants in the municipalities of Costrengrad and Topolovgrad. For now, the measures are in effect until 29 September.
In turn, Greece plans to multiply patrols and a few weeks ago the government’s National Security Council led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis decided to extend the security wall along the border with Turkey from 40 to 120 kilometers. At the end of August, it was reported that thanks to measures taken by the authorities, Greece had the lowest number of refugees admitted in a decade in 2021: 8,500. This year marked the second-lowest number of the last decade, with arrivals in the first eight months amounting to seven thousand.
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