IDOMENI, Greece — Papers clutched tightly in their hands, hundreds of frantic refugees clamor for the attention of Greek police to fix documents the Macedonian authorities on the other side of the border rejected as potential forgeries — sometimes for problems as seemingly capricious as whether the color of the ink used to sign them is black instead of blue.
Along the Balkan migrant trail, similar bureaucratic nightmares are keeping people stuck at border crossings for days on end, even as they arrive on Europe’s shores by the thousands. Many are openly voicing concerns that the paperwork hurdles are a deliberate attempt by reluctant countries to discourage them from reaching their destinations.
“They told us the signatures on our papers are not good. They told us to go back to Athens,” said Montasr, a 26-year-old Syrian from Aleppo who managed to cross into Macedonia after waiting for days in the overflowing refugee camp on the northern Greek border at Idomeni, only to be sent back into Greece. He wouldn’t give his surname to protect family still in Syria.
He claims that Macedonian authorities have told people to “go back to Syria” and get new ID cards or passports if the documents were dirty or battered.
“They are crazy or what? They will kill us if we go back to Syria,” exclaimed Montasr, shaking his head in disbelief. “They just don’t want us to go inside.”
The handling of the refugee crisis has tested European unity like never before, with individual states varying dramatically in their responses. Some, like Austria and Hungary, are more hard line than others, and have imposed severe restrictions. Others, like Germany, which saw more than a million people claim asylum last year, have favored a more open response.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has been both hailed and criticized for her response to the biggest movement of people in Europe since World War II, said it is counterproductive for European countries to implement individual measures.
“Unilateral solutions do not help us,” she said Friday while meeting with French President Francois Hollande in Paris.
Border slowdowns and closures have meant migrants are now piling up in Greece, overwhelming the country’s resources, she added.
Turkey would have to play a vital role in bringing down the number of migrants making the often-dangerous crossing to the eastern Greek islands such as Lesbos. On Monday, leaders from the European Union and Turkey are to meet in Brussels in a summit on how to move ahead.
As well as working closely with Turkey to stop the flow, Europe also has to secure its outer borders so it knows who is entering, Merkel said.
At the summit, the leaders will effectively decide the fate of people like Waez Ziad, a 51-year-old Syrian doctor from Aleppo who found that the color of the ink on the signature of his family’s registration papers was deemed to be wrong.
His family couldn’t cross — a crushing blow after a tortuous two weeks or so when he, his wife and three children, aged 17, 13 and 2, slept in a field.
His wife was getting help from the Greek police on fixing the papers, he said.