Opposition to migrant moves
The government’s plans to alleviate overcrowding at migrant reception centers by moving some illegal immigrants to converted army camps ran into some problems yesterday, when campaigners on Chios prevented authorities from transferring a group of some 60 people. Mainly leftist protesters prevented two buses carrying the migrants from boarding a ship leaving the eastern Aegean island. Authorities wanted to send the immigrants to a camp in northern Greece, as there were 220 people in the Chios reception center rather than the 120 it was designed to hold. The buses boarded the ship but a protester jumped in the sea, between the harbor and the vessel’s engines, holding up the ferry’s departure for about an hour. Protesters had also stopped the transfer of some 60 illegal immigrants from Lesvos to Kavala on Friday, forcing authorities to remove just 30 migrants on Saturday night. More than 400 immigrants live in the island’s reception center, which was built for 250 people.
