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.
Advertisement
Migrants hurl stones at Macedonian policemen during clashes at the…
The police responded with tear gas and stun grenades, driving the crowd back, a Reuters photographer at the scene said.
Tensions peaked at Greece’s border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia over the weekend after the FYROM army started building a border fence to keep out would-be migrants.
“The drop is significant given that, according to IOM estimates, some 100,000 migrants have crossed into Greece since the beginning of November – averaging around 4,500 crossings per day”, an IOM statement said.
The interior ministry later said that 18 policemen were injured, two of whom were hospitalised after the incident.
Macedonian police have charged into Greek territory after an estimated 250 or more asylum-seekers began pelting the police with rocks.
A government spokesman said the fence would simply redirect people to official crossing points.
The movement of citizens from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan continues uninterrupted.
Krause said there was a heavy deployment of police and military personnel at the border, where calm was said to have returned.
Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia have all implemented similar restrictions based on nationality.
One Moroccan man denied entry into Macedonia was taken to hospital with severe burns on Saturday after climbing on top of a train carriage and touching a live wire. Iranians and others have been stuck in Idomeni since Macedonia and other countries on the Balkan refugee corridor adopted the new policy Thursday.
Advertisement
“Everyone will be allowed to pass except people who are not from war-affected regions”, he told AFP.
