A scuffle broke out between a wall of Macedonian police officers and Iranian migrants stuck in limbo along the Greek border Thursday, days after shivering migrants stitched their lips shut in protest of new border rules.
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It was the latest clash since Macedonia and other Balkan countries on the migrant route began filtering refugees nearly two weeks ago, turning back those deemed “economic migrants”.
A government spokesman said the aim of the new fence was “to direct the inflow of people towards the controlled points for their registration and humane treatment”.
In a move that follows in the footsteps of the controversial policy pioneered by Hungary, Macedonian soldiers began driving ten-foot-high metal poles into the cold muddy ground along its southern border with Greece.
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.
The man’s Moroccan compatriots formed the bulk of the about 250 people who started throwing stones at Macedonian police. Human rights groups have criticised the decision, under which only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans are allowed through.
That diverted them into Croatia and Slovenia en route mostly to Germany, which is struggling to cope.
“Everyone will be allowed to pass except people who are not from war-affected regions”, he told AFP.
Associated Press said close to 250 people on the Greek side of the border threw stones at police. He is among thousands of migrants, who for the past week, have been camped out along a railroad track now littered with trash, bolting past Macedonian authorities at the first opportunity.
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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.
