Thousands of refugees stranded at Greece-Macedonia border

The buildup began last week after Macedonia began refusing entry to Afghans and imposed stricter document controls on Syrians and Iraqis, slowing the passage of migrants and refugees to a trickle. The situation is set to worsen afterSlovenia and Croatia, both EU members, and Serbia and Macedonia said on Friday they would restrict the number of daily arrivals to 580, The Guardian reports.
The tighter controls have left thousands stranded in Greece, as Europe's worst refugee crisis since the second world war shows no sign of abating.
By Saturday, some 5,500 people were stranded at Idomeni, police said, with another 800 gathered at a provisional camp about 12 miles (20km) away.
Since Thursday night, only 150 people had crossed north into Macedonia, officials said, putting the total number of refugees and migrants in Greece at about 25,000.
Tensions were running high at the border, with about 400 people protesting by the Idomeni crossing early on Saturday, demanding that the Macedonian authorities let them in.
Austria said last week it would only allow 80 people a day to claim asylum, and would limit the daily number of people crossing the country to 3,200.
The move has sparked a bitter spat between Athens and Vienna, with Greece fearful it would trigger a domino effect, leaving thousands more people stranded on its territory.
Photograph: Sakis Mitrolidis/AFP/Getty Images
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