Greek authorities have begun an operation to evacuate the country’s largest informal refugee camp of Idomeni.
The operation began at dawn on Tuesday and journalists were barred from the area.
Government and police officials have said the people in Idomeni will be moved gradually to newly completed, organised camps.
About 20 riot police units, comprising a total of about 400 police, were in Idomeni for the operation.
Idomeni is located on the Greek-Macedonian border, where more than an estimated 8,400 people have been living for months.
The government’s spokesman for the refugee crisis, Giorgos Kyritsis, said police would not use force.
The sprawling camp in a field near the Greek town of Idomeni sprang up in February after border shutdowns across the Balkans left the people stranded there.
They had mostly been heading for Germany and other wealthier northern European countries.
The migrants, mostly from conflict zones in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, have refused to move despite having to sleep in the open in very difficult conditions or being tear-gassed by Macedonian police.
They have largely ignored appeals by Greek authorities to move to organised camps set up around Greece.
Giorgos Kyritsis, a government spokesman for the migration crisis, said the government planned to remove all 8,400 people estimated to be living in the camp.
“A thing like Idomeni cannot be maintained. It only serves the interests of smugglers.”
Agencies