ORIENT-NET
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) police used tear gas, stun grenades, plastic bullets and a water cannon to disperse the crowd.
The use of teargas by the police of FYROM against migrants and refugees was condemned by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
On Monday, UNHCR said that it was greatly worried about Sunday’s violence at Idomeni. “The extensive scenes we have all seen of teargas in use are a matter of great worry to UNHCR. It should be too for all who are concerned with Europe’s response to the situation of refugees and migrants,” UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards said in a statement and added.
The UN statement noted that in the recent days the media attention focused on the recent EU-Turkey readmission agreement and as a result the Idomeni situation and the fact that thousands of refugees are living in the Greek hotspots is in some way forgotten.
“We should not forget the many other refugees and migrants who continue to be affected by the situation, especially the nearly 46,000 on the Greek mainland who arrived before the agreement took effect. At Idomeni, about 11,000 have been sleeping for many weeks now in the open in dismal conditions, fuelling hopelessness and despair,” the UN official stressed, Europe Sun reported.
UNHCR also said that it is ready to support the voluntary transfer of people to sites to be put in place by the Greek Government, including helping with necessary services while registration and processing is taking place,New Europe reported
