Migrants clash with police in Macedonia as France clears Calais camp

Iraqi and Syrian migrants stuck in Greece clashed with Macedonian police today as they attempted to storm the border between the two countries. Police used tear gas and stun guns to beat back the desperate migrants, who chanted “Open the border!” and “We want to go to Serbia!”

About 6,500 migrants have gathered at the Idomeni crossing, but Macedonian officials have allowed only a trickle through so far. The standoff at Idomeni is just the latest battle in the migrant crisis that threatens to tear Europe apart.

In France, refugees amassed in coastal towns, hoping for a chance to sneak across the English Channel, are growing increasingly desperate. A French court last week ruled officials can evict migrants and refugees from parts of “the Jungle,” a shantytown outside Calais. But mindful of the explosive situation, authorities are moving cautiously and said they will not raze the entire camp, Reuters reported.

In January, some camp residents rioted, set tents on fire and clashed with police as they protested eviction orders, The Daily Mail reported. Thousands of people are estimated to be living in the camp, hoping for their chance to illegally cross into Britain. Clashes with French officials are just one danger migrants face: The Guardian reported in October that women living in the camp stay in groups, for fear of sexual violence.

In spite of squalid conditions, cold, and disease, many migrants resist moving to nearby housing in a park of heated shipping containers, or other migrant camps in France, because they fear that would end their journey.

“Nobody is moving and I’m not moving, we just have nowhere to go,” 40-year-old Pairow told Reuters. He spent months traveling from Iraq to Calais, with his wife and two children. They hope to get to Britain.

Last week’s court ruling granted French authorities the right to demolish makeshift tents but not common spaces like restaurants, places of worship, and schools. Regional prefect Fabienne Buccio told Reuters people will be gradually relocated.

While France struggles to get a handle on the Jungle, the scope of the migrant and refugee crisis continues to roil Europe, threatening to “break down” the European Union’s immigration system, according to officials. On Feb. 23, the International Office of Migration said more than 100,000 people have arrived in Greece and Italy since the beginning of 2016, a much faster rate of immigration than 2015—a record-setting year.

European Commission Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos warned that by the March 7 summit with Turkey, the EU must find a way to curb the flow of incoming people, AFP reported.

“In the next 10 days, we need tangible and clear results on the ground,” Avramopoulos said. “Otherwise there is a risk that the whole system will completely break down.”

The massive influx along with criminal acts by some migrants have strained many countries’ goodwill and budgets, contributing to rising tensions between nations.

In September, Austrian and German leaders jointly opened their borders. Now they are at odds, after Austria hosted a conference to discuss border restrictions with multiple Baltic states and announced new caps on how many migrants it will accept.

“We cannot continue to deal through unilateral, bilateral, or trilateral actions; the first negative effects and impacts are already visible,” Avramopoulos said, adding all European countries have a shared responsibility toward each other and the desperate migrants.

Austria’s actions also angered Greece, which called it an “unfriendly act” and withdrew its Austrian ambassador in protest, according to the BBC.

Speaking in Brussels, Greek Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas said his country would “not accept becoming Europe's Lebanon.” About 1 million of the 4 million displaced Syrians are in Lebanon, according to the BBC.

Greek officials concerned about a pile-up of migrants, want all EU states to agree to resettlement quotas. They threatened to block decisions at the EU migration summit in March, if that doesn’t happen.