Hundreds of refugees from a camp in northern Greece have managed to get around a border fence and cross into Macedonia, according to a Macedonian police spokeswoman. However, a Reuters photographer estimated the number to be closer to 2,000.
After walking for several hours, the refugees crossed a river while forming a "human chain" and found a way around the fence, which was put up by Macedonian authorities, photographer Stoyan Nenov said.
>Many of the refugees, who came from a camp near Idomeni, carried children on their shoulders as they crossed the river. (this sentence is >implying)
Some of the asylum seekers were picked up and put in army trucks by Macedonian soldiers, though it was unclear where they would be taken.
A spokeswoman for Macedonian police said: "We are taking measures to return the group to Greece…police and army have heightened security on the border at critical points."
The spokeswoman said she believed the number of refugees who crossed the border totaled "several hundred," a significantly lower estimate than the number given by Nenov.
Macedonia completely closed its border on March 9, leaving some 13,000 refugees stranded. The move came after Slovenia blocked access to refugees aiming to pass through the country on their way to Western Europe.
EU leaders and Turkey are set to meet on Thursday and Friday to discuss the curbing of illegal refugee flows from Turkey to Europe via Greece. The leaders are expected to seal a deal in which Ankara would take back refugees who arrive in Greece from Turkish shorts, including Syrian refugees.
In return, the European Union would speed up Turkey's EU membership application and Ankara's bid for visa-free access to the bloc for its citizens. The EU is also set to raise the €3 billion (US$3.3 billion) it had already committed to Turkey, in order to help it cope with the refugee crisis.
http://archive.is/6ctEl