Refugees detained after attempt to cross Greece-FYROM border

Several groups of refugees and migrants have tried to cross the Greek border to get into FYROM, but were detained by police and returned to the country, a witness told RIA Novosti on Sunday.

“There was a heavy rain at night, several groups of refugees [and migrants] having grown tired of their fate took advantage of this and crossed from the territory of Greece in FYROM at night,” the witness said.

He added that the FYROM police had launched a search operation for the violators, after which they were detained and returned to Greece.

FYROM closed its border with Greece to incoming refugees and migrants in February after other countries along the Balkan route had closed their frontiers, including Serbia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria.

The border closures have resulted in thousands of refugees and migrants being stranded in Greece, particularly along the border with FYROM.