Scores of refugees face eviction from Greek border

The Greek government has announced that it will begin to evict thousands of stranded refugees who are in dire conditions at a make-shift camp on its northern border with Macedonia.

The refugees had mostly been heading for Germany and other well-to-do European countries but were cut short in their journey in February after border shutdowns across the Balkans left them stranded at sprawling camp in a field near the Greek town of Idomeni.

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Reports say the migrants have largely ignored appeals by Greek authorities to move to organised camps set up around Greece and have chosen to sleep in the open in very difficult conditions and being tear-gassed by Macedonian police.

Giorgos Kyritsis, a government spokesman for the migration crisis, told state TV the evacuation process would begin “tomorrow, the day after and will be completed in a week, at most 10 days”.

Asked if the government planned to remove all 8,000 people estimated to be living in the camp, Kyritsis said: “Yes. A thing like Idomeni cannot be maintained. It only serves the interests of smugglers.”

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