Violence erupts as migrants try to cross Macedonia-Greece border

Refugees set Calais camp on fire as demolitions resume

Hundreds of refugees on Tuesday tried to break through a border fence into Macedonia from Greece, where more than 7,000 people are stranded, as anger mounts over barriers to entry imposed on migrants flooding into Europe.

In a sign of deepening divisions within Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel lashed out at Austria and Balkan states for introducing tight limits on migrant entries, leaving Greece with a growing bottleneck as refugee boats continue to arrive from Turkey.

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov warned that once Austria reaches its cap of a maximum 37,500 migrants transiting through this year, the refugee route through the Balkans will have to close.

At Idomeni frontier, the Macedonian police fired teargas as some 300 migrants forced their way through a Greek police cordon and raced towards a railway track between the two countries.

“Open the borders!” they shouted as a group of men tried to bring down a section of barbed wire fencing, prompting the police to fire teargas.

At least 30 people, many of them children, requested first aid in the stampede that ensued, the charity Doctors Without Borders said. Authorities said a policeman had to be hospitalised after the clash. The protest occurred several hours after Macedonia allowed just 300 Syrians and Iraqis to cross.

With Austria and Balkan states capping the numbers of migrants entering their soil, there has been a swift build-up along the Greece-Macedonia border with Athens warning that the number of people “trapped” could reach up to 70,000 in March.

In France, authorities razed parts of the “Jungle” migrant camp for a second day on Tuesday. Tensions were high in the northern French port city of Calais as workers continued dismantling the southern half of the camp, which has become a magnet for refugees hoping to reach Britain, and a political hot potato between Paris and London.

The UN rights chief Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad criticised a “rising roar of xenophobia” towards migrants. Amnesty International branded it “the result of a shameful spate of discriminatory border closures”. US secretary of state John Kerry said, “It is not somebody else’s problem. It is a test for all of us. The US considers the refugee crisis to be global.”

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said more than 13,1,000 migrants and refugees have reached Europe via the Mediterranean this year. The UNHCR called for better planning and accommodation. “Europe is on the cusp of a largely self-induced humanitarian crisis”, agency spokesperson Adrian Edwards said, adding that “The crowded conditions are leading to shortage of food, shelter, water and sanitation.”