Macedonian police fired tear gas, and some migrants hurled back some gas canisters and rocks, they said. They were plucked from the water by the Greek coastguard, while more activists stood at the gates of the port of Mytilene blowing whistles and banging on metal barriers.
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It added that Macedonian security forces, along with police officers of several European Union member states deployed at the border, were attacked by migrants throwing stones and they responded “swiftly and accordingly”.
More than 10,000 migrants and refugees have been stranded at Idomeni since February after a cascade of border shutdowns throughout the Balkans closed off their route to central and western Europe.
“Two hundred people were treated for respiratory problems caused by tear gas, mostly men but including women and some children under the age of five”, MSF spokesman Jonas Hagensen told the BBC.
Macedonian police clashed with migrants who attempted to illegally enter into Macedonia from Greece on Sunday.
Crowds had gathered at the fence near the camp in Idomeni.
Earlier attempts by a large group to cross the border fence prompted skirmishes with police, a Macedonian official said.
“The indiscriminate use of chemicals, rubber bullets and stun grenades against vulnerable populations, and particularly without reasons for such force, is a unsafe and deplorable act”, said George Kyritsis, a Greek government spokesman for migration coordination.
A few hundred people also protested in Idomeni Monday, marching to the razor-wire border fence carrying a Greek and German flag, but no violence was reported.
The ministry claimed that while tear gas was sacked, “no other riot control means were used” – despite clear evidence of rubber bullets being used, with migrants and reporters on the Greek side of the border collecting scores. But he said blame for Sunday’s trouble had to be shared with those in the camp spreading rumors of border openings.
Greek authorities have urged the migrants and refugees to leave Idomeni camp and move to other reception centers, but many refuse to leave, in fears of missing their opportunity to continue on their journey to northern Europe.
Tension between migrants and authorities has intensified since the European Union began requiring mass deportations of migrants who arrived after March 20.
He dismissed the idea of taking Greece’s offer of accommodation elsewhere as “too slow”. He remained hopeful that eventually, Macedonian authorities would relent and allow them through.
In the a year ago, more than a million people fleeing poverty and conflict in the Middle East have poured into Europe through Greece.
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Meanwhile an Irish woman helping refugees in a camp along the border condemned the use of tear gas, saying: “These people are refugees, not terrorists”. Most of the 6750 migrants on the Greek islands are applying for asylum and there is shortage of qualified officials such as translators to process the applications.
