Refugees and migrants in a Greek detention camp threw stones in clashes with police on Tuesday, hours after two ferries shipped a number of people back to Turkey under a disputed deal intended to stem the human influx into Europe.
Plumes of smoke billowed from the Moria compound on Lesbos Island that Pope Francis visited on April 16. Tensions simmering for days boiled over just after the Dutch and the Greek ministers responsible for migration toured the camp.
Garbage bins were set on fire, a police spokesman said, and migrants “were throwing stones and pieces of metal at police.”
Photo: InTime News via AP
Earlier, about 200 youths broke through a partition in the camp.
They were “reacting to their detention conditions and the returns to Turkey,” the spokesman said.
Rights organizations have expressed misgivings about detention conditions on Moria, which holds about 3,000 people.
“Events at Moria highlight the level of frustration there,” International Rescue Committee director for Greece Panos Navrozidis said. “Many of these refugees have been held at Moria for well over a month with inadequate services available to them and very few answers. They deserve much better.”
Police said eight minors who were slightly hurt were taken to a local hospital after scuffles between groups of Pakistanis and Afghans.
More than 340 people have been returned to Turkey since April 4 under the accord agreed with the EU last month after more than 1 million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and beyond reached the continent last year.
On Tuesday, 13 people were deported from Lesbos to the Turkish town of Dikili; five were ferried back from Chios to Cesme; and 31 from Kos, police said.
Most were Afghans and none had requested asylum in Greece, a government official said.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees and human rights groups have questioned whether the deal is legal or moral. They are also concerned about whether Turkey is a “safe” country for returnees. The refugee agency does not have access to the Kirklareli camp returnees are sent to.
The European Commission on Tuesday said it had been formally reassured by Turkey that it would grant access to asylum procedures to all asylum-seekers sent back from the bloc, a key outstanding element in the deal.
Turkey applies the Geneva Convention on refugees only to Europeans, offers limited protection to Syrians and no legal guarantees for other nationalities.
International law bans refoulement, or sending people back to a country where their lives or safety are at risk.
Under the deal, those arriving in Greece from Turkey after March 20 face being sent back if they do not apply for asylum in Greece or if their application is rejected.
In return, the EU will take in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey and reward Ankara with more money, early visa-free travel for its citizens and progress in negotiations to join the bloc.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu last week said that Turkey would no longer need to honor the agreement if the EU failed to ease visa requirements by June.
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