About 7,600 migrants entered Macedonia in 12 hours: Report

Top Stories

About 7,600 migrants entered Macedonia in 12 hours: Report

Gevgelija, Macedonia - Some 500 migrants per hour were arriving in Macedonia.

By AFP

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Fri 11 Sep 2015, 6:00 PM

Last updated: Fri 11 Sep 2015, 8:09 PM

Around 7,600 migrants entered Macedonia in just 12 hours overnight - a record according to a UN official quoted by Macedonia's state news agency Friday.
"Around 7,600 migrants, mostly from Syria, entered Macedonia between 6:00pm on Thursday and 6:00am today," Alexandra Krause of the UNHCR refugee agency told MIA.
"We have information from our Greek colleagues that more migrants are travelling towards the Macedonian border in buses," she added.
Some 500 migrants per hour, including refugees fleeing conflicts in the Middle East, were arriving in Macedonia, according to humanitarian workers and AFP journalists.
Read: UAE home to 242,000 Syrians
Once arriving in the former Yugoslav republic, they walk to a reception centre set up by the UNHCR where they register with the authorities and later board buses that take them north to the border to Serbia. From there they enter Hungary, a European Union member.
On Friday, some 30 buses were waiting to transport them.
Read: UN says 850,000 to cross sea to Europe this year and next
Meanwhile, Thursday's incessant rain had stopped, making the migrants' difficult situation marginally more bearable.
Along with Serbia, Macedonia has become a major transit country for tens of thousands of migrants who trudge up from Greece, after risking their lives crossing the Mediterranean crammed into makeshift boats.
The majority are heading for Germany, which has pledged to welcome hundreds of thousands more refugees having already taken in 450,000 to date since January.


More news from