Macedonian Border

Some 1,500 migrants who managed to cross into Macedonia, despite the border being closed to them for a week, have been sent back to Greece by Macedonian troops, officials said Tuesday.

Hundreds of refugees on Monday tried to break through a border fence into Macedonia from Greece, where more than 7,000 people are stranded, as anger mounted over barriers to entry imposed on migrants.

Macedonian police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of migrants and refugees who stormed the border from Greece today, tearing down a gate as frustrations boiled over at restrictions imposed on people moving through the Balkans.

Thousands of refugees are stuck on Greece's border with Macedonia, overflowing from a packed camp into the surrounding fields, as they wait for Macedonian authorities to let them continue their trek through the Balkans.

Macedonian policemen fired tear gas at hundreds of mostly Pakistani migrants who tried to storm into the Balkan country from Greece on Wednesday demanding passage to wealthier northern Europe.

Serbia and Macedonia, which lie on the main migrant route to northern Europe, have begun restricting the entry of refugees to just those from certain countries, the UN refugee agency said today.

Macedonian police arrested five people today in connection with clashes between security forces and an armed ethnic Albanian group in May that left 18 dead.

Thousands of migrants stormed across Macedonia's border on Saturday, overwhelming security forces who threw stun grenades and lashed out with batons before apparently abandoning a bid to stem their flow through the Balkans to western Europe.

More than 1,500 mostly Syrian refugees, trapped in no-man's land for three days, entered Macedonia from Greece on Saturday without any attempt by the police to stop them, an AFP reporter said.

An overloaded sightseeing boat carrying dozens of Bulgarian tourists sank on Saturday in a lake on Macedonia's western border, and 15 people drowned.

Some 1,500 migrants who managed to cross into Macedonia, despite the border being closed to them for a week, have been sent back to Greece by Macedonian troops, officials said Tuesday.

Hundreds of refugees on Monday tried to break through a border fence into Macedonia from Greece, where more than 7,000 people are stranded, as anger mounted over barriers to entry imposed on migrants.

Macedonian police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of migrants and refugees who stormed the border from Greece today, tearing down a gate as frustrations boiled over at restrictions imposed on people moving through the Balkans.

Thousands of refugees are stuck on Greece's border with Macedonia, overflowing from a packed camp into the surrounding fields, as they wait for Macedonian authorities to let them continue their trek through the Balkans.

Macedonian policemen fired tear gas at hundreds of mostly Pakistani migrants who tried to storm into the Balkan country from Greece on Wednesday demanding passage to wealthier northern Europe.

Serbia and Macedonia, which lie on the main migrant route to northern Europe, have begun restricting the entry of refugees to just those from certain countries, the UN refugee agency said today.

Macedonian police arrested five people today in connection with clashes between security forces and an armed ethnic Albanian group in May that left 18 dead.

Thousands of migrants stormed across Macedonia's border on Saturday, overwhelming security forces who threw stun grenades and lashed out with batons before apparently abandoning a bid to stem their flow through the Balkans to western Europe.

More than 1,500 mostly Syrian refugees, trapped in no-man's land for three days, entered Macedonia from Greece on Saturday without any attempt by the police to stop them, an AFP reporter said.

An overloaded sightseeing boat carrying dozens of Bulgarian tourists sank on Saturday in a lake on Macedonia's western border, and 15 people drowned.