Greece moves refugees to mainland, crush builds on border

A woman reacts to the police at the border line dividing Macedonia and Greece August 21, 2015. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece ferried hundreds of refugees to its mainland on Friday to relieve the pressure on outlying islands that have been overwhelmed by thousands of people arriving by boat to flee Syria's civil war.

At the same time, crowds of migrants massed on the Greek border with Macedonia, preparing to travel north across a continent that is struggling to cope with the influx of desperate people escaping from conflict and poverty.