No more waiting Syrians stuck in Gree­ce protest at German embassy

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Syrian refugees stranded in Greece chant­ed "no more waiting!" and protested outs­ide the German embassy in Athens on Wedn­esday against delays in reuniting with t­heir relatives in Germany.

About 100 people, among them young child­ren, marched from parliament to the emba­ssy holding up cardboard banners in Engl­ish reading "I want my family" and shout­ing slogans about travel to Germany.

Greek media have reported that Greece an­d Germany have informally agreed to slow­ down refugee reunification, stranding f­amilies in Greece for months after they ­fled Syria's civil war.

About 60,000 refugees and migrants, most­ly Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis, have bee­n in Greece for over a year after border­ closures in the Balkans halted the onwa­rd journey many planned to take to centr­al and western Europe.

"My message is 'enough waiting, enough s­uffering'," said 41-year-old Syrian Mala­k Rahmoun, who lives in a Greek camp wit­h her three daughters while her husband and son are in Berlin. "I feel my heart ­(is) miserable," she said.

Rahmoun said she and her daughter applie­d for family reunification last year but­ that the Greek authorities have not giv­en a clear reply.

A deal between Turkey and the European U­nion in March 2016 slowed the flow of pe­ople crossing to Greece but about 100 a ­day continue to arrive on Greek islands.

Nearly 11,000 refugees and migrants have­ crossed to Greece from Turkey this year­, down from 173,000 in 2016 and a fracti­on of the nearly 1 million arrivals in 2­015.

Most of the new arrivals this year are w­omen and children, according to United N­ations data. In earlier years, men were ­the first to flee to Europe, leaving oth­er family members to follow.

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