By Nick Squires, Idomeni on the Greece-Macedonia border 8:00PM GMT 02 Mar 2016

How a makeshift refugee camp is a symbol of the worsening humanitarian crisis in Greece

Dispatch: Up to 100,000 refugees could be stuck in Greece within three weeks, charities warn, as desperate migrants continue to seek refuge in western Europe

A muddy, makeshift camp for refugees on the border of Greece and Macedonia is likely to explode in size in the next few weeks as tens of thousands of desperate migrants try to make their way to western Europe, humanitarian groups told The Telegraph.

An estimated 10,000 refugees, the majority of them Syrians and Iraqis fleeing war in their home countries, are living in squalid conditions in fields on the Greek side of the border, just outside the village of Idomeni.

With an average of 2,000 more people arriving at the site every day, and less than 200 a day being allowed to cross into Macedonia, aid agencies fear that within the next few weeks the population will grow dramatically, creating a humanitarian crisis.

“In the next three weeks, we could have between 60,000 to 100,000 people stuck in Greece,” Marie-Elisabeth Ingres, the head of mission in the country for Medecins Sans Frontieres, told The Telegraph during an interview in the refugee camp.

Idomeni, a small village of red-roofed houses set amid flat fields, has become the latest flashpoint in Europe’s refugee crisis, the worst since the Second World War.

The backlog has been caused by Macedonia imposing draconian border controls, as countries to its north seal their frontiers and set limits on the number of people they are prepared to accept.

Aid agencies are sorely stretched by the daily influx at the border, which lies around 350 miles north of Athens.

“We’re giving them the basics, but with 10,000 people needing three meals a day, that’s 30,000 meals a day we have to provide,” said Ms Ingres. “We have only a limited budget.

“The Greek state needs money, more support and more human resources.”

She welcomed the EU’s decision on Wednesday to provide €700 million (£540 million) in aid for Greece and other countries struggling with the refugee emergency.

“We need money to manage this crisis. Europe is finally waking up after a year. Until now, governments have let humanitarian groups handle everything.”

In the camp, long queues of refugees wait for food handouts – often for four or five hours.

Small children play in the mud or help to collect twigs to make small fires with which to heat food and make tea.

Women wash clothes with cold water and soap at standpipes and hang the wet clothing to dry on broken-down fences.

Personal possessions are strewn around hundreds of shop-bought, colourful camping tents – bright pink rucksacks belonging to little girls, mud-encrusted shoes and grey woollen blankets handed out by relief agencies.

The words “Open the Borders” have been sprayed, in English, on the side of several tents.

On Monday, anger and frustration boiled over, with a group of migrants using metal poles to try to batter down the fence that runs along the frontier, and Macedonian police firing tear gas in response.

“Yesterday there were about 8,500 people here, today we think it is 10,000,” said Caroline Haga, a Finnish member of the Red Cross, surveying the expanse of tents.

“It’s such a large number of people that no organisation can handle it alone. At the moment we are managing but if this continues, it’s going to be a very, very difficult situation.

“We are looking at a humanitarian crisis. Each day, 2,000 refugees are arriving on the Greek islands, so that’s 14,000 a week.

“What we need are additional resources so that we can at least provide enough food and shelter for people who are going to have to wait a long time to cross the border. It’s critical to address the humanitarian situation.”

How a makeshift refugee camp is a symbol of the worsening humanitarian crisis in Greece - Telegraph