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U.N. Agency Condemns Use of Tear Gas on Refugees Stranded in Greece

HeadlineApr 12, 2016

The United Nations refugee agency has condemned the use of tear gas by Macedonian police against refugees stranded on the Greek side of the border. More than 10,000 people have been stranded at the Greek border outpost of Idomeni since February, after a series of border shutdowns across the Balkans closed off their route to Central and Western Europe. On Sunday, dozens were wounded when police fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Among those treated for tear gas was Taha, an engineer from Syria.

Taha: “We saved our children from death. If they had died in Syria under the airstrikes, it would have been better than living in this humiliation. We ran away from humiliation. We thought Europe would open its arms for us and treat us with dignity; instead, it’s been humiliation.”

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