Police have used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse refugees outside a camp in northern Greece.
Since Thursday, hundreds of people stuck in Greece have arrived at the refugee camp in Diavata, hoping to travel north to countries in Europe. The migration was reportedly spurred by false reports, claiming that refugee movement restrictions in the country had been lifted. Refugees slept in fields hoping to join the group walking to the border.
On Thursday and Friday, Greek forces prevented the refugees from getting through police cordons to head towards the border, 40 miles to the north. Law enforcement formed a shield wall and fired tear gas and stun grenades to keep refugees from advancing.
It has been estimated that more than 70,000 refugees and migrants have been trapped in Greece since Balkan countries along the northern overland route to Western Europe sealed their borders in March 2016.
Separately, Turkish state media reported on Friday that hundreds of refugees were arrested the day before close to Turkey’s border to Europe.
Authorities arrested 406 refugees in Edrine, bordering Greece and Bulgaria, while 200 people were arrested trying to cross to Bulgaria. Most of the refugees arrested were from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria and Iraq.
Image adapted from: “Riotgear” by AK Rockefeller is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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