Fifteen questioned as part of tighter policing of Idomeni refugee camp
Police on Tuesday remanded 13 foreign nationals and two Greeks at the makeshift refugee camp at Idomeni on Greece’s northern border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
The arrests came as security on the highway to Idomeni and in and around the camp was tightened on Tuesday, following the violent response from FYROM security forces to an attempt by some 200 migrants and refugees to forcibly cross the border on Sunday.
Most of the suspects are foreign nationals – from Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Portugal and the Czech Republic. They were questioned in connection with reports that Sunday’s storming of the border, as well as several similar incidents in the past, may have been incited by anti-establishment groups.
According to reports, the suspects said they are pro-refugee activists but are not connected to any of the nongovernmental agencies that are active in the area.
Only one of the 15 suspects, a German, is still being held after police found him to be in possession of an illegal knife.
