Refugees Briefly Clash with Police at Greece’s Idomeni Camp

Southeast Europe | March 29, 2016, Tuesday // 21:44|  views

Refugees and migrants sit around the fire at the Greek - Macedonian border in northern Greece on 28 March 2016. Photo EPA/BGNES

Scuffles have broken out between refugees and police on Tuesday at Idomeni camp close to Greece’s border with Macedonia, according to greekreporter.com.

The refugees, stuck at Idomeni for more than a month now and demanding reopening of the border by the Macedonian authorities, started throwing rocks at Greek police officers who tried to clear the rail tracks from the refugees.

There was a minor clash with police but calm was restored in the afternoon, with the refugees remaining on the rail tracks, according to the Greek news website.

The Greek authorities started transfering refugees from Idomeni to other camps in the country last week.

Macedonia on Monday extended until the end of the year the state of emergency at the country's borders with Greece and Serbia to keep in check the migration transit through Macedonia’s territory.

Meanwhile, Greece’s Alternate Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas has announced that the government in Athens is considering the option of sheltering refugees and migrants on uninhabited islets in case the accommodation centres on the island of Chios are overwhelmed by the number of new arrivals.

Chios was the second stop on Tuesday for Toskas, who is visiting the hot spots and accommodation centers for migrants in the North Aegean, greekreporter.com said.

Twenty-three percent of an estimated total of close to 25,000 migrant arrivals in Greece by sea in March have landed on the shores of Chios, 58% reached the island of Lesvos, while the islands of Samos and Leros accounted for 6% of new arrivals each, according to the latest estimates of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) released on Tuesday.

The Greek news outlet also quoted government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili as saying on Tuesday that the country should be prepared for a lengthy stay of refugees on its territory. Restrictions on migration by countries on the Western Balkan route, the main path for migrants and refugees from the Middle East to reach the EU, has left thousands of migrants stuck in Greece.

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Tags: macedonia, IOM, Chios, Toskas, Idomeni, refugees, migrants,   Greece, Gerovasili

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