Greek authorities arrested 14 activists after the altercation, according to The New York Times, accusing them of encouraging people in the camp to tear down the fence in an attempt to elicit sympathy from European nations and prompt countries to reopen their borders.
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But Macedonia, which instituted strict border controls months ago, shut down the border completely in February – leaving thousands of migrants stranded there. Greek efforts to move the huge crowds from the squalid encampment at Idomeni into nearby reception centres have so far been unsuccessful. Macedonia has been a candidate for accession to the European Union since 2005. Another group, estimated between 500 – 1,000 people, tried to enter into Macedonia from another point. “When Macedonian police replied that this wasn’t happening, more than 100, including several children, tried to scale the fence”.
Greece criticized the Macedonian police response as excessive.
Migrants carried a man who was injured during the scuffles with police.
“Faced with people who were clearly not armed and constituted no serious threat, they attacked with chemicals, with tear gas and rubber bullets”, said Mr Tsipras.
Observers held out hope that evening rainfall, which began about seven hours into the clashes, would dampen hostilities.
A deputy field coordinator with Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said around 300 people were treated for injuries following the Sunday clashes, and that more than 30 were wounded by rubber bullets – including three children.
But Macedonian police have denied the tear has came from them. There have been continuous requests for cooperation, information sharing and preventive action to dissuade violent rioting of migrants and illegal border crossing from Greek into Macedonian territory.
Over a million people fleeing conflict poured into Europe, mainly through Greece, in the past year.
More than 50,000 refugees and migrants are stranded in Greece as a result of the border shutdowns.
Indeed, said MSF’s Hulsenbek, “What people need is to be treated with dignity, not violence or unpredictable border closures and more uncertainty”.
The UNHCR emphasized that the violence benefited no one.
“This is a great shame for European culture and for countries who want to be part of it”, he said, calling on the EU and the UN’s refugee agency to take a stand on the issue. People get hurt and property is damaged.Greece’s Public Protection Minister Nikos Toskas, a retired major-general who once served at North Atlantic Treaty Organisation on defense planning, said the government did not intend to let the situation at Idomeni “fester”, but would not forcibly remove migrants either.
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“We urge the authorities of FYROM to comprehend the potential risks the use of violence against refugees and migrants entails”, said Kyritsis, referring to the official name of the neighboring country, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
