Workers Revolutionary Party - REFUGEES ATTACKED BY RIOT POLICE

The News Line: News Monday, 8 April 2019 REFUGEES ATTACKED BY RIOT POLICE

Refugee families at the Athens Railway Station last Friday, where they were attacked by riot police. Photo by Marios Lolos.

REFUGEE families at the Athens Railway Station and at the Diavata refugee camp outside Thessaloniki, northern Greece, were ferociously attacked by riot police last Friday and throughout the weekend.

The refugee families were trying to reach the Greece-North Macedonia border, about 50km north of Thessaloniki, hoping to reach central Europe. These refugee families have been living under appalling conditions in refugee camps in Athens and in Thessaloniki.

Refugee families were first attacked with tear gas and smoke bombs last Friday at the Athens Railway Station when they tried to embark, with tickets in their hands, on the Athens-Thessaloniki train.

In the north of Greece, refugee families left the Diavata camp to make their way to the border. They were joined by many other refugees from different parts of Greece. On Saturday, about 2,500 refugees set up camp near the Diavata camp. Refugee women and their children were repeatedly attacked by armed riot police. By yesterday morning most of the refugee families had left the camp looking for another way to travel to central Europe.