Greece to Migrants: Move to Camps Voluntarily or Be Forced

PIRAEUS, Greece— Authorities in Greece say thousands migrants and refugees camped out at the country’s largest port near Athens have been given two weeks to move to army-built camps voluntarily or be expelled by force.The warning issued Thursday came...

Tents where migrants stay are placed at the Athens port of Piraeus, Thursday, April 7, 2016. The European Union took its first steps Wednesday toward a fundamental reform of its defective migration policy, which has heaped huge pressure on some nations like Greece as over a million migrants and refugees surged into the continent over the past year. AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis

PIRAEUS, Greece—Authorities in Greece say thousands migrants and refugees camped out at the country’s largest port near Athens have been given two weeks to move to army-built camps voluntarily or be expelled by force.

The warning issued Thursday came as nearly a third of the 52,000 migrants stranded in Greece by European border closures are refusing to move to organized shelters and remain camped out at the port of Piraeus and at the northern border with Macedonia.

More than 4,000 migrants remain at Piraeus — an important site for Greece’s vital tourism industry.

“Every effort will be exhausted to persuade refugees and immigrants that it is in their own interest for them to move,” a statement from the Greek coast guard said. “There is a 10-15 timeframe for them to leave the port.”

A migrant sits at a promenade of the Athens port of Piraeus, Thursday, April 7, 2016. AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis