April 11 (SeeNews) - The Macedonian police used tear gas and water cannons to push back over 3,000 migrants who tried to break through the fence along the country's border with Greece on Sunday, the country's interior ministry said.
The migrants threw stones and other objects at the policemen, injuring 23 police officers and damaging eight cars, the ministry said in a press release.
According to international medical humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders, 300 people needed medical help after the clashes. Several people were beaten by the police, about 40 received rubber bullet injuries and hundreds had breathing difficulties after being subjected to tear gas, the organisation said in a statement published on its website.
Tension on Macedonia's southern border escalated after the government in Skopje, acting in line with an agreement with Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria, decided to seal its borders to migrants, leaving thousands stuck in Greece.
According to data of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), an estimated 152,461 migrants and refugees have entered Greece by land and sea between January 1 and April 6.
In an attempt to find a solution to the aggravating refugees problem, last month the EU signed a deal with Turkey, under which Turkey should take back all migrants who arrive in Greece illegally and the EU in turn should welcome an equivalent number of Syrian refugees from Turkey.
According to IOM data, arrivals to Greece in the March 31 - April 6 period totalled 1,758 men, women and children, a significant drop from two weeks ago, which saw 5,293 arrivals by sea.