
Thousands of migrants have stormed across the border between Macedonia and Greece today, as police hurled stun grenades and beat them back with batons.

Security forces managed to contain hundreds in the no-man's land, but several thousand others – many from Syria – were able to tear through muddy fields to reach Macedonian territory.

The thousands-strong crowd managed to break through a cordon of special police forces to cross into Macedonia, near to southern city of Gevgelija, leaping over razor wire to make a break for Macedonian soil.

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Break for freedom: Migrants who waited more then 48 hours on the Greek side of the border line, run through a field after jumping over razor wire to cross into Macedonia near southern city of Gevgelija

Rush: Migrants are desperate to break into Macedonia, to cross Serbia and Hungary, to reach northern countries such as Germany

Breaking through: Thousands of migrants have today broken through the security forces cordon at the border between Greece and Macedonia

Rescue work: Medical workers help a man who collapsed as the thousands-strong crowd succeeded in breaking through the security forces at the border

Crisis point: Police have been beating back the crowds at the border and hurling stun grenades, since the border was closed after the country declared a state of emergency on Thursday

Families have converged on the Macedonian border city of Gevgelija in recent weeks, hoping to catch trains across the country to Serbia.

The rain-soaked crowd of around 3,000 migrants, including children, have spent days stuck in a no-man's land without access to shelter, food or water, after the border was closed to crossings on Thursday.

Macedonia was forced to declare a state of emergency on Thursday and ordered its borders sealed to migrants, trying to cross into the country from Greece.

Police forces blocked the main illegal crossing point today on the border between Greece and Macedonia, in the town of Idomeni.

The migrants, who had flooded into Europe from Middle East and Africa in recent months, hope to pass through Macedonia and Serbia and into Hungary before crossing into northern countries such as Germany.

One 23-year-old Syrian woman, named Fatima Hamido, spoke after crossing the border. She said: 'In this Europe, animals are sleeping in beds and we sleep in the rain.

'I was freezing for four days in the rain, with nothing to eat.'

Some 600 were allowed through overnight, squeezing onto a dawn train north to the Serbian border. But more kept arriving on the Greek side, converging on a filthy, chaotic strip of frontier with little sign of an organised aid effort.

Tired, angry and wet, one part of the crowd pushed through police lines, while others ran through open fields several kilometres from the bulk of police.

But, despite the break, the government insisted it would press on with the current plans.

'We will proceed as planned; we will control the border and allow as many people in as our capacities allow,' said Interior Ministry spokesman Ivo Kotevski.

'You should ask the Greek authorities what their plans are.'

Horror: Families were left out in the open in a dusty no-man's land for 48 hours, with no food and no shelter from the pouring rain

Crisis: Macedonia, which has been hit by waves of migrants in recent months, closed its border with Greece after declaring a state of emergency. Pictured, migrants move in a no-man's land at the border between Greece and Macedonia after Macedonian special police forces blocked the main illegal crossing point today

Torrential: Migrants walk in the pouring rain within an area near the border between Greece and Macedonia today

At least eight people were injured yesterday as they tried desperately to enter the country, but were held back by security forces.

Police in riot gear have been beating back the migrants and hurling stun grenades, which produce a blinding flash of light and a huge noise to disorient their targets.

One youngster was seen bleeding from what appeared to be shrapnel from the stun grenades that were fired directly into the crowd, which was heard to shout 'help us' as it surged forward.

Macedonia has been criticised by human rights groups for the way that it has responded to the migrant crisis.

'Macedonian authorities are responding as if they were dealing with rioters rather than refugees who have fled conflict and persecution,' said Amnesty International's deputy Europe director Gauri van Gulik.

'Every country has the power to patrol its own borders, but this kind of para-military response is an unacceptable push-back in violation of international law.'

Crowds: Macedonian police force clash with migrants trying to cross an illegal crossing point on the border between Greece and Macedonia near the town of Gevgelija today

Relief: Migrants arrive at the train station after they broke through a cordon of Macedonian special police forces in the southern city of Gevgelija today

Blockade: Macedonian police try to block the migrants entering Macedonia from Greece, on the border line between the two countries, near the southern Macedonia's town of Gevgelija today

Defences: Migrants stand behind the barbed wire, lain by Macedonian police to stop thousands of migrants entering Macedonia illegally from Greece on the border line with Greece

Clash: Macedonian riot police officers clash with migrants on the border line with Greece, near the train station of Idomeni, northern Greece

Desperation: Crowds of around 3,000 people have made several attempts to cross the border since it was closed on Thursday

Families: A little girl rides on her father's shoulders as migrants move within an area near the border between Greece and Macedonia today in Idomeni, Greece

Getaway: Migrants run by Macedonian riot police officer on the border line with Greece, near the train station of Idomeni, northern Greece today

Jad, a 25-year-old Syrian who has been waiting at the border for three days in a makeshift camp in the fields of Edomeni, which has just five portable toilets, explained: 'We are very angry because the police had told us they would let us through today. We are not animals.'

Pictures show the anguish on children's faces as they're left confused, some forced to watch their parents who are injured in the horror.

Two young boys were seen at the front of the crowd, crushed against a wall of riot shields.

Police backed by armoured vehicles also spread coils of razor wire over rail tracks used by migrants to cross on the border on foot.

Macedonia declared a state of emergency to deal with a massive influx of migrants from the Middle East and Africa who have flooded into Europe in recent months, overwhelming countries from Greece and Italy to Germany, France and Britain.

But the way they have responded has been criticised by human rights groups.

Alexandra Krause, a senior protection officer with the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said: 'We urge the [Macedonian] government to start opening the border again and prioritising the most vulnerable, such as women, children and sick people.

'There are around 3,000 people here and the numbers are rising. People are exhausted. It has rained all night and they had no shelter.'

Amnesty International's deputy Europe director Gauri van Gulik, added: 'Macedonian authorities are responding as if they were dealing with rioters rather than refugees who have fled conflict and persecution.

'Every country has the power to patrol its own borders, but this kind of para-military response is an unacceptable push-back in violation of international law.'

Harsh reality: Migrants seeking a better life in Europe have faced tear gas and dangerous crushes trying to board trains in Macedonia

Terror: These children are caught up in a migrant crisis on the Macedonian border, crying and looking distressed as police drive back the crowds yesterday

Tears: The young girl and boy cling to each other as they become separated from the crowd yesterday, while police push migrants with their riot shields

Treatment: Men help their friend who collapsed at the border line on Friday: it is thought about 10 people fainted in the crush

Nightmare: The children are crushed between officers carrying batons and shields that have forced one woman, right, to the ground in the confusion in riots yesterday

Close call: The children are just inches away from the shields that police are using to force back the migrants from the Macedonian border with Greece

Innocence: These two children have been forced to the front of the crowd and are being crushed up against the riot shields of police as they clash

Injury: The woman fell unconscious in the violence that broke out on the border as police clashed with more than 3,000 migrants

Danger: These three children beg aid workers to help an older woman who is resting on the railway tracks as clashes continue behind them

Help: A girl looks through the shields of the Macedonian police force, blocking a group of migrants trying to cross an illegal crossing point

Father and son: A migrant holds his toddler after getting trapped between Macedonian riot police officers and crowds of refugees during clashes near the border train station of Idomeni, northern Greece, as they wait to be allowed by officers to cross the border from Greece to Macedonia yesterday

Crush: Migrant help the man holding his boy to feet as they try to get through a line of Macedonian riot police officers on the border with Greece

Crowds: An aerial view taken from a drone of migrants queuing yesterday to pass the Greek-FYROM border to Gevgelija, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, but police have a well-guarded line that they are now enforcing

From the air: The aerial pictures show an outline of men in blue uniforms containing the immense crowd of migrants trying to cross the border

Force: Hundreds of migrants try to force their way through Macedonian riot police yesterday at the Greek-Macedonian border in a bid to reach northern Europe. The crowd made several attempts to break though before succeeding in its efforts today

Police spokesman Ivo Kotevski said this week that police and the army will control a 30-mile stretch of the border to stop a 'massive' influx of migrants coming from Greece.

'This measure is being introduced for the security of (Macedonian) citizens who live in the border areas and better treatment of the migrants,' he said.

Macedonia's Interior Ministry said it would allow a limited number of 'vulnerable' migrants to enter the country, but did not specify what the vulnerable categories were.

In a statement, it said police issued temporary transit documents to 181 migrants, mostly from Syria, Bangladesh and Pakistan, wanting to cross the small Balkan country on their way to northern Europe in the last 24 hours.

Before the state of emergency it was issuing an average of 1,300 such documents a day, it added.

Bulgaria has also said it was ready to dispatch its armed forces to secure its southwestern borders with Greece and Macedonia against any fresh influx of refugees.

Until now Bulgaria's main focus has been on stopping migrants crossing over its border with Turkey, where it has dispatched over 1,000 extra police and where it is expanding a 20 mile barrier.

'In relation to the complicated situation in the neighbouring countries and the wave of refugees, the ministry of defence will propose concrete measures to secure the state border together with the interior ministry,' a Bulgarian defence ministry statement said.

Greece has seen an unprecedented wave of migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa crossing clandestinely to its islands from the nearby Turkish coast.

The closure of the border could create a huge backlog of migrants on the Greek side, from where 2,000 a day have been illegally crossing into Macedonia, an impoverished country overwhelmed by the surge.

Many come from Greece's eastern islands, having made the perilous journey to escape war or persecution in Iraq, Syria and other countries in the Middle East.

Migrant routes: Situated as it is in the heart of eastern Europe, Macedonia sees migrants arrive from various locations - with the majority arriving via land through Bulgaria and Turkey having fled war torn nations. They hope to cross from Macedonia, through Serbia and Hungary, and into Germany

Face-off: Migrants clash with Macedonian police near the town of Idomeni on the Greek as they try to force their way across the border

Hurt: An injured migrant lies on the ground after a clash with Macedonian police near the border train station of Idomeni, northern Greece

Hundreds of migrants arrive each day in overladen, often unseaworthy boats, hoping to make it to mainland Greece and on to more prosperous countries in northern Europe.

NEW ROUTE TO UK: SWEDEN WARNS MIGRANTS ARE TRYING TO SNEAK ON SHIPS FROM GOTHENBURG Migrants hoping to reach Britain are now trying their luck on cargo ships from Sweden, it has emerged. An increasing number of stowaways, many of them from Albania, have been found hiding at the port of Gothenburg. More than 40 have been arrested in since May, but officials say it is likely some have made it through. The port's security chief Thomas Fransson told Swedish newswire TT: 'It's a very big problem, we are not prepared for this. 'We have more than 4,000 vehicles coming in and out of the port every day and we cannot search them all.' Sweden has a reputation for tolerance, but a long backlog of asylum seeker applications is apparently putting some migrants off staying in the country, it was reported by The Local. Albania is a former communist state which has not yet been granted EU membership. Advertisement

The Greek coast guard said today that a patrol boat from Europe's border agency Frontex had spotted a capsized vessel off the island of Lesbos. A Syrian woman was found dead and 15 others were rescued.

Separately, the coast guard said it had picked up 620 people in 15 search-and-rescue operations in the last 24 hours off the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Agathonissi, Leros, Farmakonissi, Kos and Megisti.

That doesn't include the hundreds more who have reached the islands on their own.

Two days ago, the Greek government was forced to charter a passenger ferry to take 2,500 refugees from its overwhelmed islands to Athens, where they promptly boarded trains to the Macedonian border.

From there, they hope to catch more trains to Hungary, the first country on the route in Europe's Schengen zone comprising 26 countries that have abolished controls at their common borders.

Almost 39,000 migrants, most of them Syrians, have been registered passing through Macedonia over the past month, double the number from the month before.

But it is a race against time for migrants hoping to reach northern Europe using this route, as Hungary rushes to build a 109-mile long fence along its border with Serbia.

Among those lucky enough to get across the border is Amina Asmani who fought her way past baton-wielding riot police with her 10-day-old baby in her arms to board a train.

It is a step closer to her dream destination: Germany.

The Syrian migrant, from the embattled town of Kobane, felt lucky that she, her son and husband overcame the ordeal of getting on the train, where officers beat back others.

The next day, Macedonia blocked thousands of migrants from crossing the border from Greece, leaving them stranded in a dusty no-man's land.

On the packed train, Asmani carefully placed her rosy-cheeked baby in a cot.

She said she gave birth on a Greek island while joining the massive migrant exodus from countries wracked by war and poverty.

'We want to go to Germany to find a new life because everything has been destroyed in Syria,' she said, holding her husband's hand and tenderly watching the baby who feverishly sucked on a pacifier.

'The policemen let us on the train only because they felt sorry for the baby.'

Crisis: The police and army said they will control a 30-mile stretch of the border to stop a 'massive' influx of migrants coming from Greece

Keeping order: Syrian migrant Amina Asmani (second right) watches a police officer secure the railway tracks before a train taking migrants towards Serbia enters the railway station in the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija

Forces: Police hold back migrants waiting to board a train heading for Serbia at the railway station in the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija

Waiting: A police officer guards migrants waiting for a train heading towards Serbia at the railway station in the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija

Blockade: Migrants block the railway link between Greece and Macedonia in protest after the police closed the border near the Greek village of Idomeni

At the station, tempers flared at the ticket booths and in lines for temporary refugee papers on the garbage-filled platforms.

Men fought for space in the shadows to protect their families from the blazing sun. They pushed and shoved over a single water tap or electric sockets rented out by locals to charge mobile phones.

'People are very nervous because they have been waiting here for many hours,' said Najip Zazal from Afghanistan, as he took up a position for the rush toward the next train.

'It's scorching sun and there are no facilities here even for children or sick people. We have been walking the whole night to get here.'

Most migrants walk over the border from Greece on rusty train tracks that lead them straight to the drab station, whose peeling yellow paint shows it has not seen a renovation since Macedonia was part of communist Yugoslavia before the 1990s.

The station has become one of the major trouble spots on migrant routes in Europe, like the Greek island of Kos or the French port of Calais.

Washing up: Migrants arrive in a rubber dinghy on the beach at Psalidi near Kos Town on the Greek island of Kos in a desperate bid to reach Europe

Terrified: A Syrian migrant holds a girl in his arms upon arriving on a dinghy on the Greek island of Kos after fleeing their war-torn country

Dangerous: A Syrian child from Kobane cries as she arrives on a beach on the Greek island of Kos after making the perilous journey across sea in a dinghy

When they walk into the Gevgelija station, the exhausted migrants are greeted by vendors who charge them double for bottled water than the shops just around the corner.

They also sell fruit – €1 ($1.12) for a single banana or an apple. It's €2 ($2.25) to charge a mobile phone.

'They are ripping us off, but what can you do when you feel like you are going to die of thirst or hunger?' said Fadil, a Syrian who gave only his first name. 'All we want is to get on this damn train and leave this nightmare behind.'

But that is not easy. There are only three regular trains a day running on the 100-mile route to the border, where the migrants again have to walk to Serbia.

And the trains have only two carriages that can pack a maximum of 150 people each.

This week, some 3,000 migrants were stranded at the Gevgelija station. Last week, police arrested three Syrians as angry crowds threw stones, bottles and shoes at police attempting to restore order at the station.

Relief: Migrants pray on the beach after landing near Kos Town on the Greek island of Kos, from where they hope to head for the mainland

Moment of rest: Migrants sleep on the ground at the port on Kos as Greece struggles with a major influx of migrants at the height of the tourist season

Fleeing hell: Syrian men run past blood stains and debris following air strikes by government forces on the rebel-held town of Douma. The conflict has forced thousands of Syrians to escape the country in the hope of starting a new life in Europe

Under attack: Syrian emergency personnel extinguish fires in the rubble of destroyed buildings following air strikes by government forces on the rebel-held town of Douma. Human Rights Watch urged the United Nations to impose an arms embargo on the Syrian government after air strikes on the Eastern Ghouta region town near the capital Damascus killed more than 100 people

Several migrants have been injured in clashes with police who have been trying to stem the rush on trains by allowing only small groups, mainly families with small children, to board.

Families are often split in the chaos.

A boy in a red T-shirt frantically paced along the platform, shouting 'Mama! Mama!' when he and his small curly-haired sister found themselves alone in front of the train - their parents blocked by police meters away.

A woman in a black scarf sat on the pavement, desperately crying as she told the officers that her sister and brother were on the other side of the cordon.

Obad, a 20-year-old migrant from Syria, said he and his traveling companions are not bothered by the chaos - because they have survived much worse.

'We are not afraid of anything,' he said. 'We escaped from dying.'