EU President to migrants: Don’t come to Europe

Refugees and migrants sit on the ground as they wait to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near the Greek village of Idomeni on Thursday. (Photo: AFP)

EU President Donald Tusk on Thursday issued a stark warning to economic migrants not to come to Europe, as he castigated countries for taking unilateral action to tackle the crisis.

On a visit to Greece — on the frontline of Europe’s worst migration crisis since World War II — Mr Tusk told economic migrants it was pointless to apply for asylum in the European Union.

“I want to appeal to all potential illegal economic migrants wherever you are from: Do not come to Europe,” Mr Tusk told a press conference in Athens after talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. “Do not believe the smugglers. Do not risk your lives and your money. It is all for nothing.”

And with thousands stuck on the Greece-Macedonia border after Austria and Balkan states began tightly restricting migrant entries, Mr Tusk lashed out at “unilateral” actions by EU members as “detrimental to the European spirit of solidarity”.

The border restrictions have left Greece with a huge bottleneck of migrants as Macedonia lets only a trickle through, with the EU estimating the number stranded in miserable conditions could be as high as 12,000.

Mr Tsipras said he would like to see sanctions impos-ed on EU states that undermine joint decisions by the 28-member bloc. “Greece will demand... that there be sanctions to those who do not respect (European solidarity treaties),” he said at a press conference with Mr Tusk.

The EU chief was in Athens as part of a regional tour on the migration crisis ahead of a summit on Monday between the EU and Turkey, the gateway for hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees, many from Syria, hoping to start new lives in Europe.

Mr Tusk, after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ank-ara on Thursday, said the number of migrants crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey to EU territory re-mains “far too high”. “We agree the refugee flows still remain far too high and that further action is needed.” He praised Turkey for its growing cooperation including stepped-up Coast Guard patrols and a tightening of its visa regime.

The UN has warned of a looming humanitarian crisis on the Greek-Mace-donia border, where aid agencies have reported a lack of food and tents and warned that the wintry weather is taking a toll on people’s health.

In bleak scenes, refugees have been forced to queue for hours for meagre food rations at the mud-soaked, overpacked Idomeni camp on the border.

With Macedonia tightly restricting passage across the border, only around 500 Syrian and Iraqi refugees have been allowed through since Tuesday, according to the Greek police.

Austria’s foreign minister on Thursday urged Greece to stop migrants from pursuing their journey to northern Europe, saying Athens should hold new arrivals at registration “hotspots”.

The crisis has raised fears for the EU’s Schengen as more states bring back border controls, with both Sweden and Denmark announcing another temporary extension of border identification checks on Thursday.

In the French port of Calais, demolition workers continued pulling down makeshift shelters in the so-called Jungle migrant camp for a fourth day.

The camp is a magnet for people hoping to reach Britain and many have refused to leave for other accommodation, although there has been no repeat of the violent clashes that erupted on Monday.