Migrants at Macedonia border loaded on to buses, sent to Athens

Greek police on Wednesday loaded hundreds of migrants who have been stranded for three weeks at the Macedonian border onto buses bound for Athens.

Scuffles broke out but not on the scale of recent clashes between police and the roughly 1,200 people - mostly men from Pakistan, Morocco and Iran - stuck near the town of Idomeni, after Macedonia began filtering migrants by nationality.

Some 30 men resisted police and were taken to a police station but were later put on the Athens-bound buses as well.

At the other end of the country, 12 migrants drowned when their boat sank off the small Greek island of Farmakonisi, close to Turkey, in the early hours of Wednesday, while 26 were rescued and 12 more were missing.

The UN refugee agency said those rescued included child (seven) both of whose parents were missing. Six other children were among those drowned.

Migrants continue to attempt the perilous crossing despite the onset of winter weather, mounting obstacles in Europe and increased efforts by Turkey to crack down on people smugglers.

Hundreds of thousands of people have streamed into Europe this year, mostly through Greece. Balkan states began blocking passage last month to all but Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans, who are considered as refugees because they are fleeing war zones.

Some of those stranded near Idomeni began hunger strikes and a handful sewed their lips shut to dramatise their demands. A Moroccan man was electrocuted to death last week on a railway line which the migrants had been blocking. Another was seriously burned when he climbed on top of a train to try to cross the border.

The police official said the migrants would be taken to migration centres in the Athens area before being sent home. Another police source said some would be housed at a sports hall used for taekwondo during the 2004 Olympic Games.

Macedonia has erected a metal fence to keep unwanted migrants out and plans to extend it to cover more than 40 km of the border.

More than 600,000 people have arrived in Greece this year making the short but perilous journey by boat or rubber dinghy from Turkey to outlying islands. Thousands more have drowned.

Reuters