DIAVATA, Greece (Reuters) - Greek police fired teargas on Saturday as angry migrants hoping to travel to northern Europe hurled stones and bottles after being barred from reaching a nearby border crossing, witnesses said.

Spurred by a false rumor about border openings that spread on social media, hundreds of migrants and refugees arrived and pitched tents on Thursday in a field next to the Diavata migrant camp near Greece’s border with North Macedonia.

There were dozens of tents in the field on Saturday and riot police formed a cordon to block an access route, parking 20 buses to stop the migrants from leaving the field. Authorities also sent buses to take people back to housing settlements.

At about midday, riot police fired teargas at dozens of people — some carrying children — who hurled stones and bottles as they tried to break through the police cordon and reach the main road leading to the border.

“We don’t want to fight with the Greek police,” said 36-year old Yaser, a Syrian refugee, sitting on a blanket with his baby son in his arms. “We want to go to Europe, we don’t want to stay in Greece,” he told Reuters through an interpreter.

His 26-year old wife Fatemeh, who was carrying their six-month old baby, said the family was determined to stay at the makeshift camp.

“We will stay here until the borders open, we don’t have any other choice,” she said, standing close to where the clashes took place.

Riot police officers stand during clashes outside a camp in the town of Diavata in northern Greece, April 6, 2019.REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis

‘FEEDING THEM LIES’

The scuffles lasted for several hours and thick plumes of smoke rose over the fields as police fired flares to disperse the crowds and angry migrants started small fires.

Most people refused to leave the site despite calls by ministers to return to accommodation centres and warnings that onward travel would be impossible. A few were persuaded to board the buses and officials said they hoped everyone would leave voluntarily by Sunday.

Migration Ministry coordinator for northern Greece Nikos Ragkos said two buses for migrants had already left Diavata.

They had traveled to the area due to false reports of plans for an organized movement to cross Greece’s border with Albania in early April. The rumors quickly went viral on social media.

In neighboring Turkey, nearly 1,200 migrants heading toward the border with Greece following false rumors that Ankara had opened its frontier were detained on Friday, Turkish media said.

Jana Frey, country director for the International Rescue Committee Greece, said the unrest highlighted “the amount of false information being presented to asylum seekers and refugees.”

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“IRC staff have received reports of refugees who are being lured to the border by smugglers, who are feeding them lies about the border to Europe opening up,” she said.

Tens of thousands of refugees and migrants, mainly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, are stuck in Greece from when Balkan countries shut their borders in 2016, closing the main passage towards northern Europe.

In 2016, thousands of people had camped for months in another field in Idomeni, on the border with Macedonia. Greek authorities eventually cleared that makeshift camp out.</s>Greek police have scuffled with hundreds of migrants who gathered near the northern city of Thessaloniki hoping to enter North Macedonia.

The trouble erupted at Diavata, a migrant camp, after a rumour spread on social media suggesting that a border crossing would be opened for migrants.

The Greek newspaper Kathimerini says dozens of migrants are protesting on the tracks at Athens’s Larissa station, forcing a suspension of rail services.

Many are refugees from the Middle East.

Reports say some migrants outside the official Diavata camp hurled sticks and stones at police, who responded with tear gas.

Greek media describe as “fake news” the Facebook story about plans for an organised crossing of the North Macedonia border.

About 600 spent the night camping in a field outside the Diavata camp, and there were more clashes in the morning as police blocked the route to the north.

Speaking to the BBC by phone, a Kurdish migrant from Iraq, 25-year-old Bilal Jaf, said “the situation is tense in Diavata camp now – we’re afraid that the police will try to evacuate our makeshift camp.

“I live in Greece for 11 months, waiting my asylum request to be examined and I don’t know for how long should I wait for that.”

Karzan Abdullah, 24, also an Iraqi Kurd, said: “I live in Greece for 12 months – I have to go on in Europe, because there is no life here anymore.

“We are informed that the Greek-North Macedonian border will open today for us. My friends who also want to join the caravan are blocked by the police in Athens railway station.”

Tens of thousands of migrants remain in overcrowded camps in Greece, having arrived there in huge numbers in 2015-2016. They include many Afghans, Syrians and Iraqis.

In that crisis Germany took in more than 800,000 asylum seekers – an issue that remains very controversial. International law grants a right of asylum for refugees fleeing war or persecution.

The influx declined rapidly after Turkey reached a deal with the EU to intercept migrant boats and Balkan countries imposed tight border restrictions.

In 2016, a sprawling tent city formed at Idomeni, on the Greece-North Macedonia border. It was later cleared by Greek police and the migrants were redistributed to various official camps. –BBC</s>A false message on social media has sparked violent clashes between migrants and police in Greece on Friday.

Riot police were deployed during a rally near a refugee camp in the village of Diavata, near the town of Thessaloniki in the north of the country.</s>Hundreds of protesting migrants have clashed with police for a third straight day outside an overcrowded refugee camp.

Hundreds of protesting migrants have clashed with police for a third straight day outside an overcrowded refugee camp.

Demonstrators threw rocks at officers, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.

Several migrants, including children, fainted amid the clouds of tear gas outside the camp in the village of Diavata, west of Thessaloniki, in northern Greece, on Saturday.

The protesters lit fires to make the air more bearable, but blazes also erupted from exploding stun grenades.

Greek officials said the migrants have been mobilised by fake news originating on social media and false reports that the road to central Europe, tightly sealed to migrants for three years, is open, and that buses chartered by non-governmental organisations are waiting on the other side of the border with North Macedonia, about 40 miles (60km) to the north.</s>DIAVATA, Greece (AP) - Hundreds of protesting migrants have clashed with police for a third straight day outside an overcrowded camp, with migrants throwing rocks at officers who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.

Several migrants, including children, have fainted amid the clouds of tear gas on Saturday. The protesters have lit fires to make the air more bearable, but fires have also erupted from exploding stun grenades.

Greek officials say the migrants have been mobilized by fake news originating on social media and false reports that the road to central Europe, tightly sealed to migrants for three years, is open, and that buses chartered by non-governmental organizations are waiting on the other side of the border with North Macedonia, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) to the north.

A man holding two baby strollers runs to avoid tear gas thrown by riot police during clashes outside a refugee camp in the village of Diavata, west of Thessaloniki, northern Greece, Friday, April 5, 2019. Clashes broke out Thursday between migrants and Greek police outside a camp in northern Greece, where hundreds gathered in the hope of reviving a route that saw hundreds of thousands enter more prosperous countries in Europe. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)</s>Hundreds of protesting migrants clashed with police for a third straight day in northern Greece on Saturday, with migrants throwing rocks at officers who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.

Authorities say the demonstrations outside a migrant camp in Diavata have been triggered by false reports on social media that restrictions on travel to northern Europe had been lifted.

Several migrants, including children, fainted amid the clouds of tear gas Saturday. The protesters have lit fires to make the air more bearable, but blazes have also erupted from exploding stun grenades. In Athens, migrants left a main railway station after blocking trains on Friday and services resumed Saturday.

Greek officials say the migrants have been mobilized by false reports originating on social media that the road to central Europe, tightly sealed to migrants for three years, is open again, and that buses chartered by non-governmental organizations are waiting on the other side of the border with North Macedonia, about 60 kilometers to the north of Diavata.

"We must constantly fight the fake news," Nikos Ragos, the migrant policy ministry's coordinator for northern Greece, told The Associated Press.

He added that some of the migrants were now questioning the false reports, but that cybercrime police must find the source and the motive for spreading the claims.

Greek TV station Ant1 showed a migrant's cellphone screen containing a social media message, in Arabic, sent earlier this week from a purported NGO called "Caravan of Hope" advising migrants that Greece was to open the border with North Macedonia on April 5 at noon.

The protesting migrants in Diavata are mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of them are not camp residents, but came from all over Greece in order to reach the North Macedonia border. Some who tried to break into the camp were thrown out by police and at least two were arrested.

Almost none of the camp dwellers, and certainly none among the protesters, want to stay in Greece. They want to move on to wealthier central and northern European countries, especially Germany. Many feel trapped in Greece and despair with the slow pace of the processing of asylum applications.

"We have problems here. I arrived a year and a half ago and they have set my (asylum application) interview for December 2021," Shapour Karimi, 43, an Iranian and father of one child, told the Associated Press. "What will I do all this time? A solution must be found so we can depart."</s>DIAVATA, Greece (Reuters) - Greek police clashed on Saturday with groups of migrants and refugees camped in a field close to the country’s northern border hoping to cross to neighbouring countries and travel onward to northern Europe, witnesses said.

Hundreds of people including children had arrived at the field next to the migrant camp of Diavata near the border with North Macedonia on Thursday and started setting up tents.

They were prompted by reports on social media of plans for an organised movement to cross Greece’s northwest land border with Albania in early April.

Riot police fired teargas at dozens of people - some with children in their arms - who threw stones and bottles as they tried to break a police cordon and reach a road leading to the border.

About 100 tents were pitched in the field which was heavily guarded by police. People refused to leave despite calls by ministers to return to accommodation centres and warnings that onward travel would be impossible.

“It’s a lie that the borders will open,” Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas told Greek state television ERT on Friday.

Tens of thousands of refugees and migrants, mainly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, are stuck in Greece from when Balkan countries shut their borders in 2016, closing the main passage towards northern Europe.</s>ATHENS - Greek police have scuffled with hundreds of migrants who gathered near the northern city of Thessaloniki hoping to enter North Macedonia. The trouble erupted at Diavata, a migrant camp, after a rumour spread on social media suggesting that a border crossing would be opened for migrants. The Greek newspaper Kathimerini says dozens of migrants are protesting on the tracks at Athens’s Larissa station, forcing a suspension of rail services. Many are refugees from the Middle East.

Reports say some migrants outside the official Diavata camp hurled sticks and stones at police, who responded with tear gas. Greek media describe as “fake news” the Facebook story about plans for an organised crossing of the North Macedonia border. About 600 spent the night camping in a field outside the Diavata camp, and there were more clashes in the morning as police blocked the route to the north.</s>DIAVATA, Greece — Hundreds of protesting migrants have clashed with police for a third straight day outside an overcrowded camp, with migrants throwing rocks at officers who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.

Several migrants, including children, have fainted amid the clouds of tear gas on Saturday. The protesters have lit fires to make the air more bearable, but fires have also erupted from exploding stun grenades.

Greek officials say the migrants have been mobilized by fake news originating on social media and false reports that the road to central Europe, tightly sealed to migrants for three years, is open, and that buses chartered by non-governmental organizations are waiting on the other side of the border with North Macedonia, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the north.</s>Riot police officers were dispatched to the Diavata reception center near Thessaloniki Thursday after hundreds of migrants gathered there in response to social media posts urging them to try to push through Greece’s border with North Macedonia with a view to crossing a series of closed Balkan borders and reaching prosperous countries in Western Europe. The initiative, by a group calling itself “Caravan of Hope,” was reminiscent of a similar disinformation drive back in 2016 that fueled tensions in the area of Idomeni on the border with North Macedonia. [InTime News]
Greek riot police clash with hundreds of migrants near the Diavata refugee camp, attempting to enter North Macedonia, after rumours were circulated on social media that the border would be open.