Islanders say police are too busy to help
Local officials from three eastern Aegean islands have asked the government to create a special law enforcement force because they say that the police and coast guard are too busy trying to catch illegal immigrants and traffickers to carry out their normal duties. The prefects of Lesvos, Samos and Chios have suggested the establishment of an eastern Aegean border guard service to patrol their islands, it was revealed yesterday. They told Skai Television that residents «feel unsafe because policemen are absent from villages and towns.» The politicians claim that all of the authorities’ time is taken up with guarding overcrowded immigrant reception centers and trying to round up illegal immigrants. Last year, almost 1,900 illegal immigrants were caught on those three islands. So far this year, more than 400 have been detained.
