About 11,000 people are stranded along the border between Macedonia and Greece.
Some who entered Greece illegally say they would rather kill themselves than be sent back to the Middle East.
The plan drew swift criticism Wednesday from the Czech Republic, highlighting deep divisions over refugee issues within the bloc.
The news comes as a controversial EU deal with Turkey aimed at easing the growing influx of migrants and refugees stalled.
Mass returns from Greece to Turkey of refugees began Monday under a deal between the European Union and Turkey.
Amnesty International alleges that the Turks are forcing as many as 100 people daily back to war-ravaged Syria.
At least 129 unaccompanied refugee children have gone missing since a camp for migrants was demolished last month.
The controversial EU deal, agreed to last month, will see one person from Turkey resettled in Europe for every refugee sent back from Greece.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and human rights groups have denounced the Turkey-EU deal as lacking legal safeguards.
An EU deal to send some 750 people back to Turkey from Greece has been criticized for failing to protect legitimate asylum-seekers.
Austrian Defense Minister Hans Peter Doskozil said Saturday the move would stem an expected increase in migrants trying to get to Northern Europe.
New arrivals to the country may soon have to sign a declaration that they will accept Western values and report suspected terrorists.
Migrants on the island of Chios seeking asylum in Europe protested an EU deal that will likely see many of them returned to Turkey.
The Liberal government won election in October 2015 pledging to bring in more Syrian refugees more quickly than the previous Conservative government.
More than 1 million refugees arrived in Germany last year, leading its cities and towns to struggle with integrating them.
A rumor that the fence would be opened led to a sudden crush.
Athens’ move to evacuate the country’s main camp likely will mean longer waits for asylum seekers hoping to make their way to Western Europe.
While most attention is focused on nearly 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, the country also hosts hundreds of thousands of others.
Refugees held signs in Greece Tuesday apologizing for the terror attacks in Belgium's capital.
An accord on refugees is straining an already overburdened processing system in Greece, where more than 1,600 migrants have arrived since Sunday.
The deal will have immediate consequences for asylum-seekers already in Greece, as well as those who continue to land in smugglers’ boats across the Greek islands.
Doctors Without Borders warned Monday that the accord would put vulnerable populations at greater higher risk of exploitation, injury and death.
