Tensions run high at Greek-FYROM border

Tensions were running high on Monday at the Idomeni border crossing between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), when a group of refugees tore down part of the metal fence and broke into FYROM and scuffled with police.

The incident occurred as the European Union was drafting an emergency plan to tackle the escalating refugee influx and avert a humanitarian crisis in Greece and the Balkan corridor states.

No serious injuries were reported from Monday's clashes, according to Greek police officials who witnessed some 500 refugees and migrants bring down a gate, leading to dozens entering FYROM, the Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

FYROM security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowd that was pelting rocks, according to the Greek side.

Refugees said they were tired of waiting for several days to cross over into FYROM and continue their journey to central Europe after the tightening of travel restrictions on refugees imposed by Austria and many Balkan states over the past ten days.

FYROM allowed less than 50 refugees from Syria and Iraq to cross the border on Monday, before sealing off the crossing point again, as refugees were staging a sit-in protest on the rail tracks.

More than 7,000 people remained stranded in the area on Monday, and almost 25,000 in Greece, according to the latest data from Greek authorities which are struggling to provide shelter for all.

Frustration prevailed in overcrowded provisional camps set up throughout Greece, as the Greek government and humanitarian organizations made pleas to European partners, private enterprises, and citizens to offer shelter, food, clothing and medical aid.

"The European Commission is closely monitoring the conditions and preparing emergency plans to assist Greece and the other countries of the so called Balkan Route, examining the current and future needs of refugees reception, manpower, financing as well as material support," European Commission spokesperson Mina Andreeva said Monday in Brussels.

Meanwhile, the Greek army is constructing more temporary refugee settlements at old military bases, in parks and former Olympic Games facilities across Athens and Greece, Greek ministers said.

"If there is no imminent European solution, we will deal with the refugee flow by equally distributing the refugees across the country," shipping minister Theodoros Dritsas told Greek television channel SKAI.

"We have to adapt to the new standards. The refugee influx is like water. It flows. We cannot stick to a non-flexible plan," he said when speaking to Greek state broadcaster ERT.

Despite the government's attempts since last Friday to stem the flow of people from the Aegean Sea islands to Piraeus port by introducing limits on the number of refugees on board vessels to the mainland, more than 5,000 refugees and migrants have reached Piraeus over the past three days, according to the latest official data from the shipping ministry.

The port's passenger terminals, which have been converted into an informal temporary accommodation center since the weekend, are overwhelmed with refugees.

Volunteers are distributing food and water, while doctors from the health ministry and humanitarian organizations are providing medical care.

Over 6,000 people are currently stranded on the Greek islands, as more keep crossing into Greece from Turkey each day, Greek Coast Guard officials said.

Should FYROM and other countries not lift the movement restrictions, within a month, about 70,000 refugees and migrants may be "trapped" in Greece, according to Greek migration policy minister Yannis Mouzalas.

Following a mini cabinet meeting on the refugee issue chaired by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday, the migration policy ministry announced that due to overcrowding, journalists and television crews would no longer be allowed to enter facilities set up for migrants "until further notice." Endit