Thousands of drenched migrants remain trapped on Macedonia border

The desperate scenes along Macedonia’s southern border have continued, as migrants and refugees are stopped from heading north towards western Europe. Police and soldiers along the country’s border with Greece have been struggling to control the crowds of refugees and migrants, many fleeing war-ravaged countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. On Thursday, Macedonian authorities declared a state of emergency at Gevgelija, with police sealing the border and firing tear gas and stun grenades at the crowds. On Saturday conditions deteriorated, with people having to spend a cold night outside, under heavy rain and with little or no access to food and water.

People are exhausted. It has rained all night and they had no shelter.

Alexandra Krause, a senior protection officer with the UNHCR

Around 600 people were allowed through on Friday night, in a train towards Serbia, but more arrived on foot at the border, including many Syrian refugees who had stepped off a boat from the Greek islands, which have seen some 50,000 arrivals in July alone. The two countries do not have a happy relationship, a dispute rooted in Greece’s refusal to recognise Macedonia’s name since the latter broke away from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.