Balkan route effectively closed for Refugees

Idomeni: Thousands of abandoned refugees on the Greek-Macedonia border, are frustrated as there hopes has been dashed by closing of the route through the Balkans to wealthy European Union countries.

This has come after Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia all imposed further restrictions and bans on people traveling through the region. And German Chancellor Angela Merkel said closing European borders was not an option.

Nearly 13,000-14,000 refugees were waiting for two weeks or more near the village of Idomeni, so that they be among the small numbers which have been allowed through each day.

The new measures have also sparked other eastern and central European countries into action, with officials from the Czech Republic practicing test closures of its border with Austria amid concerns refugee flows may shift in the country’s direction.

EU leaders said they had reached the outlines of a possible deal with Ankara to return thousands of migrants to Turkey, and also said that “irregular flows of migrants along the Western Balkans route have now come to an end.