According to various estimates, from 1,000 to 5,000 migrants have been stranded in Idomeni, which has a population of about 150 people. The protesters have refused to leave the village and travel to Athens for their asylum applications to be processed, despite being offered a free transfer by train.
Following the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, in mid-November, many Balkan states started to limit access to their territory, filtering migrants according to their country of origin. Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia are currently providing access along the Balkan route to Central Europe to to refugees fleeing conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan, leaving hundreds of people stranded at their borders.
Europe has been facing a major refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants fleeing their home countries to escape violence and poverty. Many of them take the Balkan route, which crosses Greece, Macedonia and Serbia, using the countries as a transit zone to enter the European Union where they intend to apply for asylum.
EU border agency Frontex recorded over 1.2 million illegal border crossings into the European Union in the first 10 months of 2015.
