Border guard shown beating young boy back with a baton at Idomeni 

Protest by migrants and refugees against guards descended into violence

More than 11,000 people are living at the border after becoming trapped

Came as the EU considered setting up a fleet of drones to monitor boats

Violence: The protestors were seen shoving at police – who in turn pushed back with shields

Shocking video has emerged from the Greek border showing guards beating children back with batons as they desperately try to cross into Macedonia. An officer is shown raising his weapon to strike the child, who could be as young as 10, attempting to climb over the barbed wire fence. The young boy can clearly be seen recoiling after he is struck twice before falling back – while the border guards standing alongside their colleague appear to do nothing.

Tears: The railway line, used for freight traffic, has been blocked by protests since March

 

Shocking: A border guard is shown beating back a boy with a baton near Idomeni, in Greece, on Thursday

Protest: The border saw scenes of violence as some of the 11,000 migrants and refugees stuck there began a demonstration against the closure of the borders, which effectively trapped them in Greece

The horrifying picture was just one of many upsetting scenes on the border, near the Greek town of Idomeni, as refugees and migrants clashed with the men paid to patrol the fence. There are more than 11,000 people stranded and living in an impromptu camp on the border, trapped there after Europe closed its land borders to migrants and refugees last month.

They had been planning to make their way along the Balkan route, from Greece through the non-EU countries pf Macedonia and Serbia before arriving in Europe once more. As many as 53,000 are stuck in Greece, with thousands of increasingly fraught men, women and children waiting to see if they will be allowed to cross into Macedonia.  On Thursday, their anger reached boiling point, when protesters stood on railway tracks near the border fence calling for the border to open, shoving at police who pushed back with shields. The railway line, used for freight traffic, has been blocked by protests since March 20.

Terrifying: Protesters stood on railway tracks near the border fence calling for the border to open

In February, it was revealed Finland planmed to test drones along its frontier with Russia, where a growing number of migrants were crossing. But Major Jussi Napola, of the Finnish border guard, declined to say why exactly Helsinki wanted to run the tests along the 833-mile (1,340 km) border, where migrant movements have grown to become an issue at high-level bilateral meetings.

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