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ATHENS, April 5-- Greece's borders to any other country will not reopen, government ministers said on Friday in response to sit-in protests staged by hundreds of refugees and migrants in Athens and northern Greece. Some 500 people, among them families with children, have camped since Thursday afternoon outside the refugee reception facility of Diavata community, at the outskirts of Thessaloniki port city and about 60 kilometers from the Idomeni border crossing into North Macedonia. Protesters briefly clashed with policemen, who fired tear gas. Protesters demanded the reopening of the border to continue their journey to central Europe, Greek national news agency AMNA reported. A policeman was slightly injured and two protesters have been detained. Over 200 migrants and refugees started on Friday a sit-in protest on the tracks of the central railway station of Athens, demanding to be allowed to travel to northern Greece to also reach the borders. Train services have been suspended until further notice. The protests were launched after rumors circulating in social media among migrants and refugees who live in Greece that if they move en masse to the borders, the crossings will open, AMNA noted. Protesters should not risk the privileges they have and should not use their children as shields, because some traffickers have sold them false hopes, Minister of Citizen Protection Olga Gerovassili said in an interview with local News 24/7 radio station. | 
