Female refugees stranded at the Greece-Macedonia border have pleaded with authorities to open the border. Over 12,000 people are currently stuck in the refugee camp near the Greek town of Idomeni.

Recently, freezing temperatures and heavy downpours has led to much of the area becoming swamp-like, making life for those living in the makeshift campsite extremely difficult.

Rafa, 21, a Syrian refugee said, "Open the border, please, open door, please, we want to be safe, we want to be safe, open the border, please. We have children and we have woman like this. We don't know what we should do. We run away from the war and like the war here is".

The site has grown rapidly since Macedonia tightened its border security in February. A number of other Balkan countries have also stemmed the flow of refugees coming into their countries, leaving tens of thousands stuck in Greece.

Syria mother-of-three Raida said, "How do I feel in this situation? It's very hard, for 17 days I've stayed like this, and I haven't changed (my clothes), what can I tell you? There is nothing. Even for the children, the basic things like the toilet, my daughter, she is five-years-old, waiting for the toilet, she didn't make it on time".

She added, "You want me to tell you about the situation. What situation?''

Macedonian authorities are only allowing a few hundred refugees to cross the border daily. A Greek police official confirmed no-one had crossed the border in the past 24 hours.

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