Several thousand rain-soaked war refugees and asylum-seekers ran across Macedonia's border from Greece Saturday as riot police chased them lobbing stun grenades, tear gas and beating them with batons. The violence came as Macedonia is cracking down on the flow of thousands of Syrian war refugees attempting to reach safety in western Europe by travelling through through the Balkan region.
It’s difficult to look at pictures like this. There is so much unrest in the world. Everywhere, are pictures of police assaulting people. I am sitting at my computer with tears running down my cheeks. The ugly reality is…one day this will be happening in our country. Actually, it probably is happening right now at our own borders. People seeking safety, hoping to receive asylum; met with police brutality. Surely there is a better way?! Gather refugees, feed them, make sure they have basic needs met; then find a suitable dwelling–even if temporary. Why the violence? Is it necessary to reduce human beings to status lower than animals?
It was not too long ago that Syria was welcoming refugees by the millions from Iraq after the USA invaded and de-stabilized that country.
The US and western allies then turned their eyes to Syria and armed terror groups to destabilize that nation. They did the same in Libya and now Yemen all for the sake of propping up the courrupt systens of banking and Corporatism that dictate policy.
Syria is another in a long line of “bankers wars” the rich parasites feeding off the misery of the poor, Until the peoples of the world, be it in the EU or Canada, the USA or Brazil recognize that we have more in common with these refugees than those very wealthy peoples at the pinnacles of power, this will continue to get worse. It time people stopped looking to blame their lot on the poor peoples in foreign lands and recognize that the real enemy of the working class are the “owner clas” the same as it ever was.
And Donald trump runs for President.
They were forcing their children to join them? Aren’t these refugees desperately fleeing war, doing their very best to HELP their kids survive? These kids aren’t just “upset”. They have lost their home, security, are likely malnourished at this point, and the rest.
Where is your derision against US foreign policy as it directly relates to this dire situation of these parents with their kids?
So if I went out and burned down my neighbors house and then shot them as the parents and children decided to sleep in my garage rather than out in the bitter cold , it the fault of those parents if the children get upset?
Sorry you are a self righteous idiot sitting at your computer in the comfort of your home or whatever. Imagine you and your children have been first expedited out of Turkey by the same type draconian mob of armed thugs after fleeing Iraq or Syria. And then Greeks have pushed you into the no-man’s land between Greece and Macedonia where you’ve been for three days and nights in the rain and cold. There’s no where to go back to.
The whole so called “international community” is to blame having created by design the disastrous instability that is driving these people to seek safe haven at risk of life and limb. And you are to blame for not seeing that and not demanding the prosecution of present and previous executives in America, Europe, NATO, Israel Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait etc… for crimes of creating wars of aggression and state support of terrorism.
And your first statement also only reflects your ignorance. A refugee has every right under the international convention of human rights of the UN signed by Macedonia, and must be treated first as a human being and then as a refugee. Did you see that in the pictures above? You are a sad piece of work who neither uses your brain nor your heart.
These refugees have no intention of staying in Greece, Macedonia, Turkey, Italy, Spain, ect. They are on their way to the richer, northern European countries. Maybe the above should just run special trains to Germany, Holland, Denmark, France, Sweden and Great Britain…their ultimate destination…kind of like Mexico does with Central Americans.
Yes maybe they should put them on trains to countries that respect the laws of human rights. But what you are implying is that these are economic refugees. Again a term which is great to avoid the responsibilities for the geopolitics of “global” economic corruption. And yes when countries are destabilised in terms of their security so are their economies.
And most refugees have an ultimate destination to return to their homes in peace and have a chance at a peaceful and prosperous life there. Nobody chooses to face such hardship and misery unless they absolutely have to to survive.
Your sarcasm just shows your ignorance and bigotry, if not racism, certainly not your compassion or understanding of the suffering of others. There for the grace of whatever go you and I. When you are in their shoes I hope you find people with a human streak, and not someone with your cynical view of his fellow human and a club in his hand.
Should the fascist “Golden Dawn” take over from the useless Syriza in the coming elections, then we haven’t seen nothing yet…
I am just pointing out the obvious. They have fled their country because of the fighting, and also the persecution. I never see it mentioned that, while a majority of the refugees are Muslim, the Christian refugees are represented in the refugee group by an order of magnitude over their representation in the general population of their respective countries. I wonder why? I have a pretty good idea myself but im sure I would be called a racist or a fundementalist nut job if I were to say. Let’s just say that some being persecuted to flee for their religious beliefs doesnt fit into the accepted narrative…so it never happened. I don’t blame the refugees for trying to make a better life for them and their families. I would do so myself. So,in answer to your charge of believing they are economic refugees, I don’t. I think they are war and persecution refugees. I also think ( and will be proved right) that they are looking for the countries with the strongest economies and most open immigration policies to settle in.
I notice you begin every conversation with someone that does not totally agree with you with an insult. Something I have become used to by some so called “Progressives”, It is not a way to debate that will change many minds, but may make someone feel superior and better about themselves…
The simple fact of the matter is that some areas of the world are ruled by tyrants such as Saddam and Assad. While they may be loathsome people, they do keep everyone in line and so can seem “secular” by having internal peace in their countries ( unless you are a member of a targeted minority or disagree with them.) Removing these people from the outside will many times function as taking the lid off of the witch’s cauldron…which we are now seeing in Iraq, Syria, and Libya. All bad ideas, in my opinion.
The kids look rather white. I wonder if that adds to the power of these images for white Americans?
We’re going to solve this problem someday and say that everybody has inalienable rights not to be kidnapped, raped, killed or starved.
Wow, you did it again! I don’t read the NYT and never have. You apparently missed the part where I agreed with you about our idiotic intervention in Iraq, Syria, Libya and other places. The only part we may disagree on is that you (I think) see them as peaceful countries in spite of their tyrant jrs, I think many were peaceful (at least to the outside) because of their tyrants. An unfortunate legacy of having many diverse and mutually hostile groups thrown into the same country by outside colonial forces (think Austrian Hungarian Empire, Yugoslavia, Nigeria, Iraq, Syria, ect.) that, once out from under authoritarian rule, will spin itself apart as it was an artificial construct to begin with. I’m not saying it wasnt because of the U.S (Bush, Obama) im saying once that genie is out of the bottle then other forces can come into play,
