Macedonia builds fence on Greek border

On Saturday, metal poles were placed in the ground for a fence similar to the one built by Hungary on its southern border to keep refugees from entering the country.

But for the past two weeks, countries on the route including Macedonia have begun turning back migrants of other nationalities, leading to a chaotic buildup at the Macedonian-Greek border and days of protests by Iranians, Pakistanis, Moroccans and others.

They have staged daily demonstrations at the border, and have pitched their tents on a railway line, halting rail services between the Greek port of Thessaloniki and the Macedonian capital Skopje.

Alexandra Krause, an emergency coordinator at the UN Refugee Agency, told Al Jazeera from the Macedonian town of Gevgeliga on Saturday that the move was prompted after a group of mainly Iranians, Moroccans and Bangladeshis started throwing stones at the police. He said that the crossing from Greece to non-EU member Macedonia would remain open and that the fence was aimed at ensuring migrants did not try to slip across at other spots.

The man, one of those whose entry into Macedonia has been forbidden, climbed on top of a stationary train carriage and touched a power cable overhead.

Balkan countries have clamped down at their borders recently to stem the largely unchecked flow of people, leaving tens of thousands stranded in Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia.

The Macedonian government insists it has no intention of sealing its border completely.

The BBC’s Balkans correspondent Guy De Launey said the new fence, which does not cover the entire Greek border, is a way for Macedonia to direct migrants towards official crossings. “We will still allow the migrants from war-affected countries to pass”, Reuters reported.

The number of migrants making the journey to Europe rose dramatically this year compared to 2014, although the influx shows signs of decreasing as winter approaches.

More than 720,000 migrants – mainly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan – have arrived in Greece so far this year, according to the IOM.