Stun grenades fired into refugee families

Young migrants determined to enter Greece battle with police at the Macedonian border. Photo / AP

State of emergency declared as new flashpoint forms in immigrant crisis.

Riot police fired stun grenades at refugees desperate to cross from Greece toward northern Europe yesterday as a new flashpoint emerged in the refugee crisis.

Police officers fired grenades directly into the crowd, injuring at least 10 people, as about 3000 refugees tried to cross the border.

In chaotic scenes, men charged the police lines, while women and toddlers sobbed and some migrants fainted. Medical workers ran to their aid. Police fired tear gas and several people sustained leg wounds, apparently from grenade shrapnel.

The clashes came a day after Macedonia declared a state of emergency, saying it could not cope with the thousands of refugees trying to cross its border to enter the EU.

Medecins Sans Frontieres, the emergency medical charity, said: "There is widespread fear, panic and frustration among the refugees."

The refugees, many with babies and young children, spent a cold night outside in a field without food and with little water.

Police, supported by armoured vehicles, spread razor wire over railways used by migrants.

Hours after the clashes, Macedonian police started letting small groups with children cross the border in Gevgelija.

An unprecedented 160,000 refugees and migrants have entered Greece this year in rubber dinghies to cross from the Turkish coast to Aegean Islands such as Kos, Samos and Lesbos — 50,000 arrived last month alone.

Many are Syrians and Afghans fleeing war in their home countries. Nearly 39,000 migrants, most of them Syrians, have passed through Macedonia in the past month, double the number of the month before.

Macedonian police said they had temporarily closed the 30-mile border "for the security of citizens who live in the border areas and for better treatment of the migrants".

But the United Nations said it was deeply concerned by the use of force to close the frontier. Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, urged the Macedonian government to establish the "orderly management" of its borders.

As tensions grew, the Bulgarian Government said it was preparing to send its army to secure its borders with Macedonia and Greece.