Thousands of migrants and refugees stranded on Greece's border with Macedonia are facing further misery as unrelenting rain turns the muddy fields into huge puddles of filthy water. Up to 14,000 men, women and children have been living in deplorable conditions at the makeshift camp in the no man's land on the Greek side of the border.

refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
A man looks at a body of standing water that has developed due to heavy rainfall at the Idomeni refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonia border Matt Cardy/Getty Images
refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
People walk around tents set up on waterlogged ground Matt Cardy/Getty Images
refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
A child reacts in front of a tent at a makeshift camp on the Greek-Macedonia border Stoyan Nenov/Reuters
refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
Boys play in a muddy puddle in a makeshift camp for migrants waiting to cross the Greek-Macedonia border near the village of Idomeni Stoyan Nenov/Reuters
refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
Migrants walk through a puddle at the refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonia border Matt Cardy/Getty Images
refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
A child walks across a huge puddle at the camp Matt Cardy/Getty Images

The United Nation refugee agency spokesman at Idomeni warned that the camp's squalid conditions had become a health risk. "This population has been in this unhygienic situation, in this misery where you have a lot of young children. We are talking about 10,000-12,000 people, around 4,000-5,000 children, so in this situation they are vulnerable people and there are risks of anything," said UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch.

"We have heard doctors talking about respiratory issues, gastro, bloody diarrhoea, and many, many more issues. What this population needs is proper shade and shelter. They should be offered to be taken to camps sooner otherwise the problems will increase," he added.

refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
A sign advising parents to write their names or numbers on their children's arms is seen near a huge puddle Matt Cardy/Getty Images
refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
People warm themselves around a fire on train tracks at the Greek-Macedonia border Daniel Mihailescu/AFP
refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
A child wrapped in a thermal blanket stands in the mud Daniel Mihailescu/AFP
refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
Children warm themselves by a fire in the refugee camp Matt Cardy/Getty Images
refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
A boy shelters from the rain in a black plastic rubbish bag Matt Cardy/Getty Images
refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
Children stand next to a tent at the Idomeni refugee camp Matt Cardy/Getty Images
refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
A boy wrapped in waterproof sheeting stands next to his tent Matt Cardy/Getty Images
refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
A sick baby is examined by medical volunteers at the Idomeni refugee camp Matt Cardy/Getty Images
refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
A graffiti message which reads: 'Open the border' is seen behind a barbed wire fence Matt Cardy/Getty Images
refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
Refugees protest against the closure of the Macedonia-Greek border Matt Cardy/Getty Images
refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
Migrants hold up placards at the Idomeni refugee camp Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Hundreds of migrants have left the border camp and are heading on foot towards an opening in a frontier fence dividing the two countries. The group, which includes dozens of children, is heading east towards a river that crosses the border, about 5 kilometres (3 miles) outside Idomeni. They refused to turn back at a Greek police cordon outside the camp.

Three people drowned while trying to cross a river close to the Greece-Macedonia border swelled by heavy rain, police in Macedonia said.The bodies of two men and a woman were found in the river early on Monday (14 March), a police spokeswoman confirmed.

refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
Migrants walk through a field looking for ways to cross the Greek-Macedonia border Stoyan Nenov/Reuters
Refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
A man is helped across a river near the Greek-Macedonian border Stoyan Nenov/Reuters
Refugees migrants Greece Macedonia
People wade across a river near the Greek-Macedonian border, west of the the village of Idomeni Stoyan Nenov/Reuters

Greece has stepped up efforts to relocate migrants from the border 'tent city' to sheltered camps elsewhere, but the despairing refugees have refused to leave, hoping that an EU summit scheduled for 17-18 March might result in the border being reopened.

Thousands are stuck along the route through the Balkans that saw more than a million leave the Middle East via Turkey, through Greece on their way to wealthier nations of Europe in 2015. Refused permission to move onward, they are caught between changing entry rules and living in dire conditions in small, donated tents.

More about the refugee crisis
Migration Pictures