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Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Border Tensions After Migrants And Police Clash

Authorities in Macedonia and France are braced for further possible clashes with migrants after tensions flared yesterday.
Army trucks are at a railway line near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija this morning in anticipation of more trouble.
And riot police have arrived at the 'Jungle' camp in Calais ahead of a second planned day of demolition of part of the camp, which is home to around 4,000 people wanting to reach the UK.
Calais camp demolition
In Macedonia yesterday, hundreds of migrants and refugees stormed the border from Greece - prompting police to fire tear gas as several migrants were nearly trampled and one officer injured.
Austria and several Balkan states have placed caps on the number of migrants who can use the main route into the heart of Europe, creating bottlenecks all the way back to Greece.
people, including children, remain stuck at or near the border crossing at Idomeni in Greece, with another 500 at a makeshift camp on a small concrete strip around 13 miles away.
Police chiefs from Balkan and East European countries are meeting to discuss how to stem the flow of people coming from Turkey and Greece as they try to pass through Europe.
Greece is thought to have 25,000 migrants stranded in the country, with many thousands sleeping in parks and fields as refugee shelters quickly overflow.
Meanwhile, at Calais, the first day of efforts to dismantle part of the 'Jungle' camp saw trouble flare between police and migrants.
Children were among those affected by tear gas fired by police as the bulldozing began. The tear gas was reportedly in response to protesters hurling stones as shanty dwellings were torn down.
Officers also used water hoses to disperse migrants, while fires broke out in some of the shacks.
Last night French police responded with tear gas after 150 migrants threw rocks and struck vehicles heading for England on a port road which runs next to the notorious slum.
The demolition work got under way after a legal ruling cleared the way for the mass evictions from the most populated half of the site.
The plan is for people to be relocated to converted shipping containers nearby and reception centres across France, but campaigners have warned there is not enough alternative accommodation and want the relocation to be delayed.

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