Macedonia police open border to some migrants

Macedonia said Friday it would allow a limited number of “vulnerable” migrants to enter the country after sealing its border with Greece to them, leaving thousands of refugees stuck in no-man’s land.

One person was bleeding from what appeared to be shrapnel from stun grenades fired directly into the crowd.

Police backed by armored vehicles also spread coils of razor wire over rail tracks used by migrants to cross on foot from Greece to Macedonia. Some raised their babies above their heads to try to persuade the policemen to let them through.

Greece has faced an unprecedented wave of migrants this year sneaking onto its islands from the nearby Turkish coast, with more than 160,000 arriving so far.

Walking along the railroad they headed to the train station in the Macedonian town of Gevgelija, where they hope to catch a train and continue their trip towards Serbia and EU borders on the north.

“I don’t know why are they doing this to us”, said Mohammad Wahid, who came from Iraq.

Macedonian police spokesman Ivo Kotevski said both police and the army would control the 30-mile border stretch to stop the “massive” influx of migrants coming from Greece.

She said the Red Cross had access to the migrants and refugees in the border area but warned of harsher weather approaching.

Many will take buses north, heading for Macedonia, then Serbia and Europe’s borderless Schengen zone in Hungary.

About 39,000 people, mostly Syrian refugees, have registered as passing through Macedonia in the past month, twice as many as the month before.

On Greece’s eastern islands, hundreds of migrants arrive each day in overladen, often unseaworthy boats. The BBC reports that 181 migrants have been issued transit documents in the last 24 hours.

EUROPEAN UNION: The European Union’s executive commission is aware of the “crisis situation” declared by Macedonia’s government and is ready to help, a spokeswoman said.

Record numbers of migrants and refugees fleeing violence and poverty in countries such as Syria and Afghanistan are trying to reach Europe, despite the risks of perilous sea crossings and the inability of countries to provide adequate humanitarian assistance.