Dozens of migrants and refugees were wounded on Sunday when Macedonian police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at crowds on the Greek side of the border, aid workers said, an act Athens called “dangerous and deplorable”.
More than 10,000 migrants and refugees have been stranded at the Greek border outpost of Idomeni since February after a cascade of border shutdowns across the Balkans closed off their route to central and western Europe.
A man calls to other refugees and migrants to walk through the torn-down wire fencing along the border into Macedonia during clashes with Macedonian security on Sunday. Photo: AFP
An earlier attempt by a large group of migrants to cross the border fence had resulted in the confrontation, a Macedonian official said.
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Greece said police on the Macedonian side of their joint frontier used teargas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to push back the migrants. Macedonian authorities would only confirm they had used tear gas.
A deputy field coordinator with medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said that, of around 300 people treated, more than 30 had injuries caused by rubber bullets.
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A migrant man throws a can of the tear gas back toward Macedonian police. Photo: AFP
A news release issued by MSF quoted one doctor with the charity saying said three children had been taken in to its field clinic with head injuries caused by rubber bullets.
