The camp residents – mostly Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan refugees – have ignored repeated calls from Greek authorities to relocate to organized camps, and attempted several mass incursions into Macedonia in recent weeks, trying to bypass the fence or break through it.
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Around 700 migrants have agreed to leave a squalid camp on Greece’s border with Macedonia since violence broke out over the weekend when a group of migrants tried to storm the frontier, sources said Tuesday.
Macedonia and other Balkan countries to its north have also closed their borders, on what was once the busiest migrant route to central Europe. “If they had died in Syria under the air strikes (it would have been) better than living in this humiliation”, said the man, who gave his name as Taha.
“Protesters in Idomeni have dragged a train wagon in front of the police bus. Tensions are high”, it said.
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said 200 people suffered breathing problems, 30 sustained injuries from rubber bullets – three of them children under 10 – and 30 had other injuries. Instead, according to some refugees, there was a clash with members from the Macedonian army. The crowd reportedly was trying to cut the barbed wire, throwing stones and other objects at police, which were forced to use tear gas and stun grenades to repel the attack.
Greek-Macedonian border in Idomeni, on April 13, 2016. He told Vima radio station that there had been “an excessive and asymmetrical use of force” that had created a “very hard situation on Greek soil”.
“The planned deportation of 6,750 migrants on Greek islands back to nearby Turkey has been suspended because Greek officials, too few in number, have been overwhelmed by the volume of asylum applications”.
Macedonia asked Greek police forces – who news reports said stood back and watched the confrontation – to intervene and stop any future migrant rioting. New clashes have broken out between Macedonian police and…
Greek police eventually stepped in as well.
An estimated 11,000 plus refugees are at refugee camps in Idomeni, hoping to make their way to northern Europe despite the closed border.
On Monday, Greek authorities said only 18 people entered Greece by sea over the past 24 hours, a week after the EU-Turkey deal went into effect.
The clashes have only served to escalate the row between Athens and Skopje.
“I am referring to (Macedonia) specifically”.
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Tuija Paakki, spokeswoman for The Finnish Border Guard, said Monday crossings at the two Arctic border posts were limited to citizens of Finland, Russia and Belarus, and their families.
