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Hundreds of refugees injured after clashes with FYROM police at borders

Xinhua, April 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

Clashes erupted between migrants and police from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on Sunday at Idomeni after a group of people attempted to dismantle the fence and cross the borders.

Up to 700 migrants and refugees tried to tear the fence down in three separate groups with FYROM police responding with tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to stop them.

At least 300 people were injured in clashes. Most of them had respiratory problems, while others had injuries caused by plastic bullets, according to volunteers from Doctors Without Borders. Among them there were women and children.

The situation was under control in the afternoon after it started raining in the area.

"We urge the FYROM authorities to understand the potential risks from the use of violence against refugees and migrants," the spokesman of the Refugee Coordination Crisis Management Body Giorgos Kyritsis said in a statement to Athens News Agency on Sunday.

On Saturday, leaflets in Arabic were distributed urging migrants and refugees to storm the border and cross to FYROM by force.

Kyritsis urged the refugees not to believe in rumors and false information from strangers, and to cooperate with the Greek authorities who will guarantee their safe transfer at an organized temporary accommodation center.

A total of 11,500 are at the Idomeni makeshift camp close to the border with the FYROM, following the border closures along the main route north through the Balkans in February.

Most of the refugees insist on staying close to the border in the hope that it may reopen soon and continue their journey to western Europe. Enditem