LESBOS ISLAND: Greek riot police on Tuesday fired tear gas to disperse angry locals on the islands of Lesbos and Chios protesting against the planned construction of controversial new migrant camps.
Residents have long complained that the presence of thousands of asylum-seekers threatens safety and public health and oppose government plans to build new camps for them on the islands.
Tensions came to a head overnight at the harbours of both islands, where hundreds of locals had gathered to prevent the arrival of construction machinery and riot police reinforcements.
As two ferries each carrying around 500 riot police docked at Lesbos and Chios, protesters threw stones and firebombs. The police responded with tear gas to clear the way.
Residents also parked cars and garbage trucks on rural roads leading to the camp sites, which are to house up to 7,000 people each, in an attempt to block construction.
Later in the day protesters threw objects at police in the hills near to the camp sites, local TV footage shows.
“We are the victims of an unprovoked attack in the forest with tear gas and flash bombs,” Yiannis Bournous, a Chios lawmaker with the leftist opposition Syriza party, said in a video posted online.
“Hundreds of unarmed locals are fleeing,” he said.
A few protesters had to be treated for breathing trouble, a photographer at the scene said.
There are more than 38,000 migrants crowded into camps on the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Leros and Kos despite an official capacity of just 6,200.
The conservative government which came to power in July has announced that the camps on Lesbos, Samos and Chios will be shut down this year, to be replaced with new, smaller facilities that are to be operational by mid-2020.
The administration of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has tried to alleviate the problem by relocating thousands of migrants to other parts of Greece, but many communities on the mainland have also stonewalled the move.
After weeks of fruitless talks with local authorities, the government has insisted the plan would go ahead despite opposition.
— AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
