Thousands of migrants and refugees at the Turkish-Greek border are being moved to camps

At the end of February, Turkey decided to open the border with Europe.

Thousands of people then took the opportunity to try to cross the border through Greece. Once there, they were met by border police and tear gas.

Since then, tens of thousands of people have fled the Turkish-Greek border. But due to the corona pandemic, Turkey has now decided to remove almost 5,800 migrants and refugees to temporary camps, the AP reports.

On the other hand, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu has warned that as soon as the virus outbreak is over, the country will not prevent anyone from leaving the camps.

Greece hailed the initiative as an "important measure for our country and for Europe", writes AP.

In 2016, the EU signed an agreement with Turkey. By closing the border and not allowing refugees and migrants to leave Turkey, the country received billions in return.

But the deal collapsed when the situation in Syrian Idlib escalated in February and more than 30 Turkish soldiers were killed.

- Turkey feels cramped in a corner and puts pressure on the EU to get support in Idlib, said Thomas Thorén, SVT's foreign reporter in Turkey.

Since the decision to open the border, the EU has sent more border police to Greece and promised Turkey more support in the form of money.