REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, GEVGELIJA -- Hundreds of mostly-Syrian refugees seeking better life in western Europe arrived Saturday at the Greek-Macedonian border where some 2,000 others are stranded in no-man's land after being stopped by Macedonian police.

The refugees and migrants, who have been there since Thursday, spent the night sleeping on the ground despite heavy rain and chilly overnight temperatures.

Army troops were deployed throughout the forested hills which line the 50-kilometre (30-mile) border, army spokesman colonel Mirce Gjorgoski told AFP, giving no further details.

Macedonia on Thursday declared a state of emergency and sealed off the border for 24 hours.

But after clashes between police and migrants that left at least eight refugees slightly injured, Skopje decided to allow a limited number of refugees in to continue their journey.

Late on Friday, Macedonian police began allowing groups of several dozen to cross and take a train to the north in a bid to reach western Europe.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has expressed concern over the situation on the border, warning that the situation was deteriorating.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres spoke with Macedonia's Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki about the situation, and "received assurances that the border will not be closed in the future," an agency statement said.

It called on the European Union to "step up support for countries affected" by the movement of refugees in southeastern Europe.

And urged European states to "act together in response to this growing crisis and help overstretched countries like Greece, Macedonia and Serbia."

Figures from the UNHCR show thousands of migrants, most of them from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, have been pouring into Greece on a weekly basis with the aim of travelling through Macedonia and Serbia to reach the European Union.

Some 42,000 people, including more than 7,000 children, entered Macedonia since mid-June, the government in Skopje said.

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