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Two refugees try to commit suicide near Greece-FYROM border crossing

Xinhua, March 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Two refugees attempted to commit suicide by setting themselves on fire in protest of the closed borders at the makeshift camp near the Idomeni border crossing between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Greek national news agency AMNA reported on Tuesday.

Their nationalities have still not been known, but both were not seriously injured, as other refugees and migrants rushed to put out the fire, according to eye witnesses.

The two men were transferred to local hospitals.

It occurred as people who have been stranded since February in the area and living in tragic conditions were holding a sit-in protest on the railway lines.

Some 12,000 refugees and migrants are in Idomeni, according to the latest official statistics from the Greek government released on Tuesday.

Desperate people fleeing wars and poverty still hope that the borders may reopen soon so that they can continue their trip to central and northern Europe, as some 1 million others have done since the start of 2015.

However, last Friday's deal with Ankara to stem the refugee flow from Turkey and start sending back new arrivals to Greece from early April has put a damper on their hopes.

More than 52,000 refugees and migrants are currently in Greece, the Greek authorities announced on Tuesday. Endit