By JOHN STEVENS FOR THE DAILY MAIL PUBLISHED: 13:23 GMT, 1 March 2016 | UPDATED: 01:06 GMT, 2 March 2016

The new Iron Curtain holding back the hordes: The 19-mile barbed wire fence built on Macedonia's border to stop a human tide of migrants as Greece is told it faces being 'sacrificed' to save the EU

Migrants are continuing to flock to the tent city located on the Greek border despite recent closure of the crossing

Thousands of refugees have been waiting all day, hoping to be allowed into Macedonia and cross further into Europe

The UN revealed some 131,000 people have entered Europe so far this year despite the new border measures

This number of migrants entering Europe was not reached until the second half of 2015, the UNHRC said

More than 27,000 refugees have been stranded in Greece after countries along the migrant route created a bottleneck by following Austria's lead in introducing limits on the number they will let pass.

Troubled Greece is now set to be turned into a massive refugee camp as Brussels officials are today expected to agree to hand over £375million to Athens in return for it providing shelter for 100,000 people.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel last night performed a major U-turn as she told migrants trying to leave Greece they could not choose which European country they move to and should stay there. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said: 'We have come to the time when Greece is likely to be sacrificed'.

He said he had warned Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras: 'It will be your responsibility because you did not do anything on the Turkish-Greek border.'

Despite the restrictions stopping people from leaving Greece, thousands more are arriving each day, with 3,651 landing on its islands on Sunday alone. More than 120,000 people arrived in the first eight weeks of this year – 30 times the number who came in the same period in 2015. A further 9,000 have arrived in Italy.

At least 7,000 migrants are camped on Greece's northern border with Macedonia, which has been closed since hundreds tried to force their way through on Monday.

The news comes as migrants have started to torch the notorious Jungle camp in protest over the demolition of the site, leading to clashes between angry protesters and police.

Some refugees brandishing metal bars and hurling rocks tried to hijack lorries today as demolition workers supported by riot police carried on smashing up their illegal camp.

'Gangs broke out of the camp overnight, and started threatening drivers in the middle of the road,' said a Calais police spokesman.

'Tear gas and baton charges were used to restore order, and then the gang members were forced back inside the camp.'

At least 12 shelters were set ablaze by the refugees yesterday, during disturbances involving left-wing agitators from the UK.

Three members of the so-called 'No Borders' group were arrested for inciting the migrants to attack the police.

At least one unidentified woman from Britain was among those arrested during a day of violence in the French port town.She was seen in front of a mob of mainly Afghan refugees hurling bricks and stones at officers who fought back with tear gas.

A second woman – a German who identified herself as Ronia – said she had 'no regrets' about 'offering resistance on behalf of the refugees'. As Ronia was handcuffed, and placed inside a police car, she said: 'Everyone in the camp has a right to a home and a future.'

The worst trouble started soon after demolition workers supported by CRS riot police arrived at around midday yesterday.

The Macedonian army began building the second fence last month – 16ft from the first fence, which was put up in November.

Fights yesterday broke out as those camped in muddy fields near the fence scrambled over each other to grab limited supplies of food.

The UN refugee agency said at least 1,500 people had spent the night in the open and tensions were running high.

'We have been waiting for six days,' said Farah, a 32-year-old woman from Baghdad, as the van distributing canned food and long-life milk was mobbed and emptied in minutes. 'The food is not enough – everyone is lying to us and we are desperate,' she added.

Fayez, a 27-year-old computer technician from Syria, added: 'We have to queue for over three hours, for not enough food.

'We've been here four days – we want to go to Sweden but our money is running out.'

The grim weather has already taken a harrowing toll on the travellers' health, with many children heard coughing and crying in the tents. Zineb Hosseini, a Syrian mother of five, said her family was 'freezing', adding: 'And now the wait begins anew.'

Yousef Karajakes, a 30-year-old Syrian pharmacist from the northern city of Aleppo, said he fled the civil war only to find himself in another conflict.

'They told us come, come, come here, come here and now we come and found a second war,' said Mr Karajakes, whose wife and child were killed in a bombing raid.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker meanwhile telephoned Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday to express 'unwavering support' for Athens in dealing with the crisis.

Some migrants have been waiting at Idomeni for more than a week, as even when the border is open Macedonia allows in no more than a few hundred a day. Yesterday it took in only 30.

A group of about 150 people who have been told it's their turn to enter Macedonia have spent days in a large, flimsy tent right in front of the crossing.

'I've been at Idomeni for 10 days, and it's the fourth day I've been waiting to cross over,' said Hassan Rasheed, 27, from Iraq. 'Conditions are very bad. There are many ill children who are coughing, and we spent the night in this tent under heavy rain.'

The Idomeni crossing has been closed for nearly 24 hours, following clashes when hundreds of migrants tried to force their way into Macedonia, whose police responded with tear gas and stun grenades.

Nevertheless, today small groups of refugees arrived in a steady flow, mostly on foot after walking up to 18 miles along highways.

One of them was Ahmed Majid, a 26-year-old Iraqi travelling with his wife and two children.

'We have been walking for three kilometers. Police stopped our taxi on the national road, which is why we are going through the fields,' said Majid. 'On the route from Athens police kept stopping us at petrol stations and told us that the border was still shut.'

'We have been waiting for six days,' said Farah, a 32-year-old woman from Baghdad, as the van distributing canned food and long-life milk was mobbed and emptied in minutes. 'The food is not enough – everyone is lying to us and we are desperate,' she added.

A spokesman for the UN refugee agency said: 'The crowded conditions are leading to shortages of food, shelter, water and sanitation.

'Tensions have been building, fuelling violence and playing into the hands of people smugglers.' Greek authorities have set up two additional camps for 12,500 people near the fences and are building a third.

Thousands more refugees are stuck in the main port in Athens and on the Greek islands, with ferry services being cut because of the backlog of people at the Macedonian border.

Mrs Merkel, who has been blamed by many for encouraging migrants to come to Europe, yesterday tried to persuade those who had already come to stay in Greece.

'There are accommodation possibilities in Greece, they should be used by the refugees,' she said.

Mrs Merkel added: 'There is not a right for a refugee to say, 'I want to get asylum in a particular country in the European Union'.'

Read more: Hundreds more migrants trapped at Greece's Macedonian border | Daily Mail Online