Tempers flare as refugees held at Macedonian border

By Vasiliki Mitsiniotou and Talha Ozturk

ATHENS

Macedonian police used tear gas and stun grenades Monday to prevent hundreds of refugees from storming a rail gate on the Greek frontier.

Around 500 refugees broke down a gate at the border crossing, throwing stones at police, the Macedonian Internal Affairs Ministry said.

Greek police said a 2,000-strong crowd, many chanting "Open the border", broke down a metal border gate at around 12.30 p.m. local time (10.30GMT) but were pushed back by Macedonian security forces.

There were no reports of arrests or injuries.

The nearby refugee camp of Idomeni on the Greek side of the border is full and around 6,500 are waiting to cross and continue their journey north. Macedonia recently imposed a daily limit on the number of refugees allowed to cross the border.

Many refugees at the camp, who are mostly Syrian or Iraqi, have been there for more than a week in conditions of scarce food and shelter.

Between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. Sunday, 305 were allowed to cross into Macedonia, according to Greek border police.

The Greek authorities have been racing to prepare for larger numbers of refugees remaining in Greece for longer periods as countries along the Balkans route to Europe have put increased frontier restrictions in place.

The Immigration Ministry said Sunday that at least 22,000 refugees are currently in camps around the country with more arriving each day. Immigration Minister Giannis Mouzalas said Greece expects up to 70,000 refugees next month as the weather in the Aegean continues to improve.

Greece has submitted an emergency plan to the EU requesting 450 million euros ($489 million) for supplies and staff.

More than 111,000 people have arrived in Greece by sea from Turkey since the start of the year, according to the International Organization for Migration. Last year, more than 850,000 arrived in Greece via the Aegean Sea.

In recent weeks, Austria has placed strict limits on the inflow of migrants, causing a domino effect through the Balkans and leading to criticism from other EU members and refugee agencies.

Athens has threatened to block decisions at an EU-Turkey summit on March 7 unless the EU forces members to take their share of refugees.