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Macedonian Army Builds Metal Fence on Border with Greece

The fence is being built in the areas where “economic migrants” have been stopped with Macedonia denying them entry, Telma said.

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But the Macedonian government said it had no intention of sealing its border completely.

Macedonia has started to erect a fence on its southern border with neighboring Greece in order to prevent illegal crossings and to channel the flow of migrants through the official checkpoint, where only migrants from the war-affected zones will be allowed to enter.

The Macedonian government claims the goal of building the metal fence is “to direct the inflow of people towards the controlled points for their registration and humane treatment”.

On Saturday, a migrant was seriously injured after being electrocuted at the railway station in Idomeni, just across from Gevgelija on the Greek side of the border, police said.

Iranian migrants sit in no man’s land, demanding to be allowed to pass the Greek-Macedonian border, near the northern Greek village of Idomeni, on Friday, Nov. 27, 2015.

The police responded with tear gas and stun grenades, driving the crowd back.

“Several police officers were injured”.

A FYROM army source quoted by Agence France-Presse said the crossing from Greece to FYROM would remain open and that the fence was aimed at ensuring migrants did not try to slip across at other spots.

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The restrictions have sparked protests among frustrated Iranian, Pakistani and Moroccan nationals, and on Thursday, around 200 people broke through a flimsy barrier into Macedonia. The move could trigger huge border pileups of migrants along the Balkan corridor which has seen hundreds of thousands of people cross the territory as they head to rich European Union states, mostly Germany.

Macedonian Army Starts Building Fence on Greek Border