"A limited number of illegal migrants in vulnerable categories are allowed to enter FYROM*** and they may be provided with aid in accordance with the state's capacities," the interior ministry said in a statement.
FYROM*** had declared a state of emergency on Thursday, effectively closing its southern border.
The ministry did not elaborate on what it considered vulnerable categories, but shortly after the announcement, FYROM*** police allowed in a few hundred refugees, mostly families with children and pregnant women.
The move, however, caused tensions among those prevented from crossing and at least 1,000 migrants and refugees were seen pressing against FYROM*** police lines and could be heard screaming in pain.
According to Reuters, at least 10 people appeared to have fainted in the crush that ensued.
- Earlier in the day, FYROM*** riot police fired teargas to disperse migrants pressing up against its border, prompting the United Nations to voice concern over the situation and urging Skopje to treat the migrants with respect.
- Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said he had spoken with the FYROM*** foreign minister and “received assurances that the border will not be closed in the future”.
The agency also called on Greece to provide urgent assistance to “people stranded on the Greek side of the border” and to help them move towards refugee reception facilities further away.
Armed forces
Bulgaria, meanwhile, announced that it was ready to dispatch its armed forces to secure its southwestern borders with both Greece and FYROM*** against any fresh influx of refugees.
"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.
More than 3,000 mostly Syrian refugees are currently stuck in no-man's land near the Greek village of Edomeni in a standoff with police and FYROM*** troops in a bid to stem the flow of migrants attempting to cross into the Balkan nation.
In its statement, the ministry also said that in the past 24 hours, police had 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.
It added that before FYROM*** declared a state of emergency on its southern border, an average of 1,300 such documents had been issued a day, bringing the number of migrants processed since mid-June to 41,000.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)
france24.com
21/8/15
***[After the necessary corrections with the name "FYROM"]
***[GREECE recognized this country with the name "FYROM"]
***[UN resolution A/RES/47/225 of 8 April 1993]
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