UN decries refugee border limits along Balkan route

NEW YORK

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is following with great concern border limits imposed against refugees by five European countries on the or near the Balkan Peninsula, his spokesman said Friday.

Stephane Dujarric told reporters recent border restrictions by Austria, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia violated a 1951 international treaty on defining who is a refugee and a 1967 protocol that removed geographical restrictions from the convention.

"[Ban] is fully aware of the pressures felt by many European countries. However, he calls on all countries to keep their borders open, and to act in a spirit of responsibility sharing and solidarity, including through expanding legal pathways to access asylum,” Dujarric said.

He noted that the vast majority of refugees are hosted by developing countries and Turkey alone is hosting more than 2.6 million refugees on its soil, saying that there is a need for responsibility sharing at the global level.

Latest reports of chain deportations of refugees followed security measures adopted last week by the police chiefs of the five European countries.

Over the past year, hundreds of thousands have made short but perilous journeys in a bid to reach northern and Western Europe in search for a better life.