Macedonia is blocking Afghan refugees coming from Greece. Macedonia had previously been allowing refugees from Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan to cross, but not refugees from Iran. Now, Afghan refugees are blocked as well.
Afghan migrants seeking to travel through the Balkans to northern Europe were barred from entering Macedonia on Sunday, Greek police on the border said.
Macedonia closes border to Afghan migrants: Greek police, Vassilis Kyriakoulis with Katarina Subasic, AFP
This is described as a domino effect on the Balkan migrant route, tumbling down from further north in Europe. Austria and Slovenia introduced migrant restrictions. So Croatia did. So Serbia did. So Macedonia did. So Afghan refugees are piling up in border camps in Greece. So Greece is planning to prevent travel north from Athens to the Macedonian border, for refugees crossing from Turkey.
Greek police now plan to stop Afghan migrants from travelling up to Idomeni from Athens -- their first port of call after reaching the Greek islands from Turkey -- "until the situation is clarified," the government source said.
The Telegraph had a human interest piece about Afghan and other migrants housed above the Arctic circle in Sweden. This is ski area housing, available in the dark of winter.
The influx has meant a desperate hunt for rooms, and in October the Swedish Migration Agency struck a deal to house more than 600 refugees 124 miles above the Arctic Circle, in what is the world’s most northerly ski resort.
“We had an empty and cold and dark resort. It’s always closed at this time of year. It’s the polar night,” explains Sven Kuldkepp, chief executive of Lapland Resorts. “That’s why we had the opportunity to open up for refugees.”
Maud Lantto, who heads the Migration Agency’s office in Kiruna, more than 80 miles away, admits she was worried.
“At the beginning I thought it was madness. It’s too far away from the cities,” she says. “But those who work there, they had done a huge amount to make sure that the asylum seekers enjoy it.”
Inside the Arctic Circle, migrants struggle with zero daylight and biting cold, Richard Orange, Telegraph
Afghanistan Analysts Network looked at unaccompanied minors arriving in Sweden.
Unlike some other European countries, unaccompanied minors have generally been granted asylum in Sweden. Moreover, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, in Sweden, they have had an automatic right to family reunification – to bring younger siblings and parents to the country. These policies seem to be having an impact on the demographics of asylum-seekers.
An Afghan Exodus (2): Unaccompanied minors in Sweden, Ann Wilkens, Afghanistan Analysts Network
The piece discusses the Swedish politics.
Initially, on 16 August 2014, Fredrik Reinfeldt, then Swedish prime minister, urged Swedes to “open their hearts” in response to the growing, global refugee crisis (see here). Although the appeal resonated with many, in the following election on 14 September 2014, Reinfeldt´s government lost power and the socialist bloc took over. More specifically, his conservative party lost around 10 per cent of its voters to the Swedish Democrats (SD), an upcoming populist party with an anti-Muslim edge, which thrives on anti-immigration feelings. With the continuing increase of immigrants coming to Sweden from various war zones, the Swedish Democrats has kept growing and is now the third biggest political party in Sweden, after the conservatives (Moderaterna) and the Social Democrats, which are more or less equally strong.
While the established parties strived to keep the Swedish Democrats from wielding political influence in the parliament, their positions on the migration issue have also radically shifted from welcoming refugees to, in practice, seeking to close the borders to anyone without an official identity document.
And has some stories of people who had made the journey.
Around a year after his departure from Ghazni, after many unsuccessful attempts, he [Massud] finally managed to hide underneath a truck, in the narrow space between the coach and the wheels. In this manner he managed to reach Italy. He still remembers the stunned faces of those who saw the youngsters crawl out from underneath the truck.
Afghan forces have abandoned their outposts in Musa Qala, in Helmand province.
The last of the Afghan forces have pulled out of the strategic district of Musa Qala in southern Helmand Province, officials said on Saturday, months after the Taliban overran most of the district and kept them holed up in desert outposts.
The retreat, which had many politicians here mystified, was the latest blow to a province that had been teetering for months. Now, the resurgent Taliban insurgents either control or are contesting 10 of its 14 districts, extending the fighting to Babaji, a suburb so close to the provincial capital that residents of the city could hear the clashes at night.
Afghan Troops Retreat Under Pressure From Taliban, Mujib Mashal, New York Times
Some newspapers call Musa Qala “strategic”.
Afghan forces have pulled out of bases in Musa Qala, a strategic district of the southern province of Helmand, after months of heavy fighting with Taliban insurgents, officials said on Saturday.
Taliban Captures Key Helmand District After Afghan Forces Decide to Pull Out, Reuters
Other sources say, not so much.
Although Musa Qala – a dusty, sparsely inhabited land - holds little strategic value, its capture will be celebrated by insurgents.
Afghan forces withdraw from Musa Qala, scene of so much British bloodshed, Rob Crilly and Danielle Moylan, Telegraph
“Musa Qala is always discussed as a strategic place, but I can’t think of anywhere less strategic,” said Michael Martin, former army officer and author of An Intimate War: An Oral History of the Helmand Conflict. “It’s one of the most backward districts, in one of the most backward provinces, but it’s strategic for us because we decided to put ourselves there – it’s more about our national pride than it is about strategy,” he said.
Musa Qala is small military victory for Taliban but big propaganda boost, Emma Graham-Harrison, Guardian (August 2015)
The BBC reports on the complex Taliban/ISIS/Government war in Nangarhar.
A number of elders from the remote Hisarak district told the BBC that the Taliban were using the presence of IS in Afghanistan as a pretext to extort locals.
Located less than 80 kilometres east of Kabul, Hisarak is the western-most part of Nangarhar province, where the Taliban has a strong presence.
The province has also seen fighting between Taliban and rival insurgents who have declared loyalty to the Islamic State group.
In Nangarhar's capital Jalalabad I met a number of officials and tribal elders from Hisarak who had taken shelter there.
The Afghan district stuck between IS and the Taliban, Syed Anwar, BBC