Balkan states cap arrivals

More than 5,000 people were stranded at the Idomeni camp on Greece's northern border with Macedonia yesterday after four Balkan countries announced a daily cap on migrant arrivals.

The buildup began in earnest last week after Macedonia started refusing entry to Afghans and imposed stricter document controls on Syrians and Iraqis, slowing the passage of migrants and refugees to a trickle.

And the situation looked set to worsen significantly after Slovenia and Croatia, both EU member states, and Serbia and Macedonia said they would restrict the number of daily arrivals to 580.

The tighter controls have left thousands -- including many children -- stuck in Greece, as Europe's worst migration crisis since World War II shows no sign of abating. By yesterday, the number of people at Idomeni had reached 5,500, local police said, with 800 others gathered at another provisional camp some 20 kilometres away.

Since Thursday night, only 150 people have crossed into Macedonia, officials said, putting the total number of refugees and migrants currently on Greek soil at around 25,000.

Tensions were running high along the border with some 400 people protesting by the Idomeni crossing early yesterday, demanding that the Macedonian authorities let them in.

"We are facing a humanitarian crisis that the others provoked. We have already tabled proposals for the provisions we need in order to fix this situation", Greek Migration Minister Yiannis Mouzalas said yesterday.

Friday's announcement by four Balkan states came a week after Austria said it would only allow 80 people claiming asylum per day, and also pledged to limit the daily number of people crossing the country to 3,200.

The move has sparked a bitter spat between Athens and Vienna and yesterday saw some 200 people demanding safe passage for refugees protest outside the Austrian embassy in Athens, an AFP correspondent said.

Austria has repeatedly accused Greece of failing to police its borders properly and allowing many migrants to continue their journey northwards to western Europe.

"Europe can't be indifferent to those of our partners who don't respect their obligations," Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos said yesterday, referring to the border restrictions.

Last week, the European Union told Austria that limiting asylum claims was "plainly incompatible" with European and international laws.

Until the border situation is resolved, Greek authorities are trying to house migrants on the islands where they land by boat from neighbouring Turkey.