[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [official website] on Saturday urged [press release] Macedonia to put an end to the police violence occurring against migrants at the country’s border with Greece. On August 21, the day after Macedonia declared a state of emergency and sealed its borders, the police forces at the border began using stun grenades, teargas and rubber bullets on migrants stuck at the border. HRW claimed that there have been many instances of excessive use of force and those found responsible for such crimes should be punished harshly. “These are very serious allegations of excessive force by the Macedonian police firing at people seeking protection,” said Emina Ćerimović, research fellow at HRW. “Macedonian authorities should be protecting migrants, including children and those among them who may be fleeing war and persecution, not giving the police a green light to fire at them.” Many migrants managed to escape [NYT report] police authorities due to their sheer numbers.

Migrant rights have generated a tremendous humanitarian issue around the world with hundreds of deaths in recent months. Last week migrants who set up a tent city in Athens, Greece, began relocation [JURIST report]. Many migrants coming from Afghanistan, Syria and other countries migrated to the country to escape violence, and with more than 130,000 migrants coming in the last year alone, a strain has been put on Greece’s finite finances. Earlier this month the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that more than 2,000 migrants have died this year [JURIST report] in an attempt to enter Europe through the Mediterranean Sea. According to IOM, the death toll this year, up from 1,607 at the same point in the year last year, confirms that migrants’ attempt to enter Europe through the Mediterranean is especially dangerous, and in fact more dangerous than other routes according to statistics. In June a British ship launched a mission [JURIST report] to rescue more than 500 migrants stranded in the sea.