Greek islanders protest in Athens over migrant overcrowding

Published December 05, 2017

Residents and officials from three eastern Aegean Greek islands have demonstrated outside Greece's ministry for migration, protesting the increasingly precarious and overcrowded conditions for newly arriving migrants and refugees.

The mayors of Lesbos, Chios and Samos, along with dozens of locals, travelled to the mainland to protest outside the ministry Tuesday, demanding the government take measures to reduce overcrowding.

Under a European Union-Turkey deal reached last year to reduce the migratory flow, those arriving on Greek islands from the Turkish coast are held in camps on the islands and face deportation back to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece.

The lengthy process has led to severe overcrowding. On Lesbos, for example, more than 6,500 people are stuck in facilities with a capacity of just over 2,300.

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