Macedonian Police Fire Tear Gas to Repel Migrants Storming Border Fence

Migrants from Pakistan stand behind the fence as they wait to cross the border from Greece, near Gevgelija, Macedonia, 29 November 2015. Photo BGNES

Macedonian police has used tear gas to push back illegal migrants who tried to storm through the country’s border with Greece on Wednesday.

About 1,500 migrants - predominantly from Pakistan, Morocco and Iran - have been stranded in no-man's land between Greece and Macedonia for weeks after non-EU Balkan states decided to grant passage only to people fleeing zones of conflict such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

Clashes with police broke out on Wednesday after several hundred of migrants who had been denied entry, tried to storm the newly erected border fence, Reuters reported. Police have fired warning shots in the air to repel the migrants.

The migrants attempted to cross the border from Greece through a creek at a point not closed by the fence before Macedonian police pushed them back, according to AP.

The Greek government was trying to persuade the stranded migrants to go back to Athens and apply for asylum in Greece, Greek Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas has said, according to Reuters.

 

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