Stranded migrants in Greece selling food and services

IDOMENI, Greece

Hundreds of thousands of Syrian and Iraqi refugees stuck on the Greek-Macedonian border have started to peddle goods and services to survive, Anadolu Agency correspondents reported from the scene on Sunday.

Thousands of people are staying in tents pitched close to nearby frontier.

While many humanitarian organizations continue to help migrants, providing for their basic needs, some asylum seekers have started to sell food, clothing, phones, kitchen containers – some are even providing haircuts.

One Iraqi refugee, Osman Belak, said he had been selling bread for two months because he had run out of money.

Every morning Belak buys bread from a farmer who lives near the camp and sells it on to fellow migrants.

“I usually buy around 250 large, thin flatbreads. One package cost 80 cents [$0.90] but I sell it for 1 euro,” he said.

A Syrian refugee, Fadil Hashar, is a barber and provides haircuts in the refugee camp.

“I have been doing this job for 19 years,” Hashar said. “When I came to this camp I decided to do my job. I bought hairdressing tools and equipment from Thessaloniki [northern Greek province].”

He does not have a professional saloon but he is serving one client at a time in a chair.

“Around 20-25 people come to me to cut their hair or have a shave. A shave and a haircut costs 5 euro,” he added.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) the scenes at Idomeni, near the Macedonian border, are "saddening".

Greek officials recently said that more than 52,000 refugees and migrants are in the country, including at least 5,000 refugees at Piraeus and 11,000 in Idomeni.

Many refugees and migrants at Piraeus port are not accepting Greek officials' suggestions of moving to camps elsewhere in the country, fearing that they will not be allowed to leave and would be prevented from moving on to other European states.

The Greek government has said that camps with a capacity for 30,000 people will be built shortly.

According to the agreement, migrants and refugees will be sent to Turkey from where the EU will resettle asylum seekers.