Around 1,500 citizens of Pakistan, Morocco and Iran have been waiting for weeks in a no man's land between Greece and Macedonia, after the countries along the so-called Balkan route started to filter refugees and allow passage only for those from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Desperate refugees started to demonstrate after they were stuck for days in tents at the border, in near-freezing temperatures. The violence erupted after about 200 of them started to walk a few kilometers along the recently erected fences in search of an alternative way in. The police used rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades against the refugees.

After being driven back, some later pulled down a fence and blocked the path of refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, who are still allowed to cross.

Waiting for a signal

The aid group Médecins Sans Frontières moved its clinic to outside the camp following the clashes, and is now treating cases of frostbite, hypothermia and self-harm by desperate refugees. It also said a 22-year-old Moroccan national died after being electrocuted on Thursday when he touched a live high-voltage cable located above a train line.

Nikola Gruevski, the prime minister of Macedonia, has said that his government would consider allowing all nationalities to pass if countries to the north also made similar pledges. “If we have a signal that they will be accepted, for us this is not a problem to change our policies about this,” he said.

Climate of fear

The decision to tighten refugee entry criteria, allowing only the transit of persons from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, and stopping those who do not come from war-affected countries, is a serious blow to the rule of law and brings people who come in search of a safe haven into an insecure position.

To the north of Macedonia, countries such as Hungary and Slovenia have put up barbed wire and fences on their borders, but this will do nothing to solve the refugee crisis. These measures only exacerbate the climate of fear and authoritarian rule, and further compromise the human rights of refugees.