Greek police fired tear gas to disperse migrants who had gathered in a field near the country’s border with Northern Macedonia in the hope of making their way illegally up through the Balkans towards northern Europe.
Hundreds have made their way to the field in the village of Diavata since Thursday, galvanised by reports on social media of plans for an organised movement to cross Greece’s northwest border with Albania in early April.
Separately, migrants holed up in Turkey were heading towards that country’s border with Greece following false rumours that Ankara had opened its border gate. Turkish authorities have detained nearly 1,200 migrants there, Turkish media reported.
By Friday morning migrants had set up more than 100 tents in the field at Diavata. A crowd trying to make its way towards the Greek border scuffled with police who responded with tear gas. TV footage showed shrubs burning nearby.
