Police, refugees clash as Macedonia erects fence on Greek border

Macedonian police fire tear gas after refugees stranded for days at Greece-Macedonia border threw stones, injuring 18 officers

Police in Macedonia fired tear gas and stun grenades at a group of refugees stranded for more than a week at the Greece-Macedonia border, as soldiers began erecting a metal fence to keep them out.

The violence broke out after an accidental electrocution of a 24-year-old Moroccan man at the top of a train carriage. The man suffered severe burns, prompting anger among other asylum-seekers who have been stranded on the border for days.

Authorities said 18 Macedonian officers were injured in the brief clashes. Most of them received minor injuries but two were hospitalised in a nearby town, the country’s interior ministry said.

There was no official tally of injured refugees, although Macedonian police targeted them with stun grenades and plastic bullets. Doctors from the Red Cross and other non-governmental organisations said they treated 20 people for head injuries and breathing problems.

It was the latest clash since Macedonia decided earlier this month, along with Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia, to let through only those from the “warzone” countries of Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, and to turn back those deemed “economic migrants.”

Human rights organisations have criticised the move, saying international conventions require countries to treat asylum requests on merit, not on the basis of nationality. The new restrictions triggered days of protests from Iranians, Pakistanis, Moroccans and others, stranded in squalid tent camps on the border, while some Iranians have sewn their lips shut and refused food. One man on Saturday threw himself on railway lines before the police, screaming and flailing.

Moroccan nationals allegedly formed the bulk of the 250 people who started throwing stones at Macedonian police. Also among the hundreds of people stuck at the border are citizens of Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Somalia and Congo.

The clash ended in less than an hour when other migrants intervened, holding white clothing as a sign of peace.

Earlier on Saturday, Macedonian soldiers began driving metal poles about three metres high into the cold, muddy ground, building a barrier similar to that erected by Hungary on its southern border. Macedonian government spokesman Aleksandar Gjorgjiev said that the country has started to erect a fence on its southern border with Greece in order to prevent illegal crossings and to channel the flow of refugees.

Gjorgjiev said, “the border will remain open and all migrants from the war-affected zones will be allowed to enter.”

The migrants are camped along the railway tracks, blocking rail traffic for the 11th consecutive day.

“I have been here for 10 days with my two sons. We have decided to return to Athens and see what we will do,” said 41-year-old Fatemeh, from the Iranian city of Ahwaz.

“There is no way to return to Iran, only prison awaits us,” she said. “We understand that the Syrians, the Afghans and the Iraqis are at war, but we also have a big political problem. There is no freedom in our country.”