Police clash with migrants at Greek-Macedonian border

Debate has raged among many Western nations concerning the heavy influx of migrants and refugees into Europe.

About 200 migrants assaulted the barbed wire fence near the Greek border town of Idomeni and clashed with Macedonian police.

At least five Iranians powering through a hunger strike near the Greek border village of Idomemi sutured their mouths Monday to protest the Macedonian government’s decision to no longer accept “economic migrants” from Iran, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Although the measures have garnered criticism from different human-rights groups, which are warning that asylum should be granted on merit and not by nationality, the countries are not showing signs they will alter their newly implemented filtering. About 5,000 migrants are reaching Europe each day along the so-called Balkan migrant route, stoking tensions among the countries along the migrant corridor including Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia.

On Friday last week, UNHCR in a joint statement with the International Organization for Migration and UNICEF, expressed concern at the risks stemming from the new restrictions, which chiefly involve people being profiled on the basis of their alleged nationalities.

Some 800 people are stuck on the border, mostly Iranians, Moroccans, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in addition to sub-Saharan Africans. The police agency also says people moving about in border regions should also carry proof of their identity.

“I’ve been touched by the generosity of the Americans who’ve written me letters and emails in recent weeks, offering to open their homes to refugees fleeing the brutality of ISIL”, Obama said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.

An Iranian Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday that some officers at European borders have meted out “inappropriate treatment” to refugees and asylum seekers.

There have been no migrant deaths reported in Greek-Turkish waters since November 17, “so we’re hoping this is showing a trend where things are starting to fall off with the winter”, IOM spokesman Joel Millman said.

So far, only 148 refugees have been relocated from Italy and Greece to other European Union countries under a plan for transferring 160,000 agreed by European Union leaders in September.