On Saturday, metal poles were placed in the ground for a fence similar to the one built by Hungary on its southern border to keep refugees from entering the country.
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Macedonian government spokesman Aleksandar Gjorgjiev told The Associated Press that the country has started to erect a fence on its southern border with Greece in order to prevent illegal crossings and to channel the flow of migrants through the official checkpoint. About 5,000 migrants are reaching Europe each day along the so-called Balkan migrant route, stoking tensions among the countries along the migrant corridor including Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia.
The United Nations has condemned the new restrictions on travel based on nationality.
Officers released tear gas and stun grenades to push the rioters back, some lobbing back the stones thrown at them.
The latest violence broke out after one migrant, believed to be a Moroccan, was electrocuted and badly burned when he climbed on top of a train wagon.
A government spokesman said the aim was “to direct the inflow of people towards the controlled points for their registration and humane treatment”.
At least 10 people stranded at the border are on hunger strike and have sewn their mouths shut in protest.
In a surge that began about 18 months ago, migrants have been flowing across Balkan borders, having landed by boat in Greece from Turkey. He said that the crossing from Greece to non-EU member Macedonia would remain open and that the fence was aimed at ensuring migrants did not try to slip across at other spots. They have staged daily demonstrations at the border, and have pitched their tents on a railway line, halting rail services between the Greek port of Thessaloniki and the Macedonian capital Skopje.
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More than 800,000 refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia have arrived in Europe by sea so far this year, most through the Greek islands, seeking a better life in wealthier European countries such as Germany.
