Greece on Friday urged hundreds of migrants and refugees who have gathered in a field close to the country's northern border to return to their housing settlements, otherwise they could face sanctions. Small groups of people including children arrived at a field next to the migrant camp of Diavata near the border with North Macedonia on Thursday. By Friday morning there were more than 100 tents pitched in the field, prompted by reports on social media of plans for an organised movement to cross Greece's northwest land border with Albania in early April. In Athens, a group of about 50 migrants squatted on the tracks of the capital's main railway station shouting 'Germany!' and 'Open the borders.' Several more were at the station under heavy police presence. A woman runs with her baby next to flames during heated clashes with riot police outside the camp on Friday A migrant woman pushing with riot police outside a refugee camp in the village of Diavata Refugees sit on the raliway tracks in front of a train during a protest at the central railway station in Athens Services from the station were suspended. 'We want to go to Thessaloniki and then to the borders,' said Amin Omar, a 27-year-old Iraqi Kurd sitting on the tracks. 'We don't know if they are open.' Greek Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas appealed to the migrants at the border to return to the accommodation centres. 'It's a lie that the borders will open,' he told Greek state television ERT. 'In international treaties, there are obligations but there are also sanctions'. Police parked buses across a road in the area to block an access route. Tens of thousands of refugees and migrants, mainly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, are stuck in Greece from when Balkan countries shut their borders in 2016. That route was the main passage way to northern Europe. Vitsas said he hoped those in the field would leave by night. A man holding two baby strollers runs to avoid tear gas thrown by riot police during the violence A man in a wheel chair faces a cordon of heavily armoured Greek riot police outside of the refugee camp Riot policemen clash with migrants during a rally near a refugee camp in the village of Diavata Riot policemen try to detain a migrant during the rally near the vastly populated refugee camp Riot police fired tear gas into fields full of migrants as they attempted to disperse the protesting crowd A woman attacks riot police officers near Daviata on Friday as police try desperately to make the migrants go back to their camps Protesting migrants in Greece have blocked Athens' main train station and disrupted rail services, apparently prompted by false reports on social media that restrictions on travel to northern Europe had been lifted. Protesting migrants in Greece have blocked Athens' main train station and disrupted rail services, apparently prompted by false reports on social media that restrictions on travel to northern Europe had been lifted. Police said about 300 protesters gathered Friday at Larissis Station near central Athens, with many sitting on the tracks in front of trains. Authorities did not immediately intervene to disperse the demonstrators, while officials from the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, were trying to persuade them to leave voluntarily. The migrants arrived near the border with Albania earlier in the week and have been clashing with police ever since The Athens protest occurred a day after clashes broke out near a camp for refugees and migrants in northern Greece Authorities did not immediately intervene to disperse the demonstrators but waded in after it became violent Hundreds of migrants and refugees gathered following anonymous social media calls The protest occurred a day after clashes broke out near a camp for refugees and migrants in northern Greece, after protesters tried to break through a police cordon and reach the border with North Macedonia, which has been fenced off and heavily policed for the past three years. The German humanitarian group Sea-Eye says it is asking Berlin to use diplomatic channels to find a safe port for the 64 migrants it rescued off Libya earlier this week. Sea-Watch spokesman Carlotta Weibl said Friday that the rescue boat Alan Kurdi remains in international waters off Lampedusa and will not approach Italy's southernmost island until it has permission. She said conditions on board were worsening and that a storm was approaching. She said a request has been made to the German foreign ministry to find a solution. Malta and Italy have refused to open ports to humanitarian rescue ships, saying their activities encourage smugglers to pack unseaworthy rubber dinghies with migrants looking for sanctuary in Europe. A migrant man with his child sit at the side of blocked rail way at Larissis rail way central station in Athens Hundreds gathered in the hope of reviving a route that saw hundreds of thousands enter more prosperous countries in Europe A migrant holds a banner pleading for urgent help as he takes a stand near tents outside the refugee camp Refugees sit on the raliway tracks in front of a train during a protest at the central railway station in Athens A migrant boy walks on the tracks at Larissis rail way central station in Athens as part of the mass protestsAll rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility