Some 17,000 people are trapped on Greek island in stinking conditions waiting for permits that would allow them to travel on towards northern Europe
Photo: Eddie Mulholland
Greek riot police armed with shields and batons charged hundreds of angry refugees on the island of Lesbos on Saturday night, some of whom have been trapped on the island for two weeks.
One man, a Syrian refugee, was hit on the head in a baton charge and fell to the ground unconscious, amid tense confrontations.
Some refugees started throwing water bottles and stones at the police lines, but others immediately intervened, telling them to stop and shouting “Peace!”
Meawwhile, a newborn boy was found dead after his migrant parents reached the shores of another Greek island in a boat from Turkey on Saturday. The baby boy was taken from the island of Agathonisi to a hospital on the nearby island of Samos, where he was pronounced dead, the Greek coastguard service said.
Photo: REUTERS/Dimitris Michalakis
On Lesbos, a crowd of mostly Syrian refugees marched along the waterfront, shouting “Asylum!” and “We want go Athens.”
Refugees voiced anger and frustration about the squalid conditions they are living in around the port of Lesbos’s main town, Mytilini, as they wait for theGreek authorities to issue permits that will allow them to board ferries to Athens and from there journey through the Balkans to northern Europe.
There are an estimated 17,000 refugees and migrants trapped on the island, which they reached in boats and dinghies organised by smugglers operating from the nearby Turkish coast.
They are sleeping on the street or in tents pitched around the port. There is an acrid smell of urine and excrement.
Women with children and babies are sleeping out in the open in extreme heat. During the day temperatures are close to 100F.
Photo: AFP
“I’ve been here for seven days. We have no water, no food and no toilets,” said Mohammad, 27, a university graduate from Aleppo in Syria.
“Please, the Greek authorities must let us leave the island. We just want to go to Athens. We are so sad in this situation. We just want freedom. The Greek authorities have one office with just one computer to process the documents for all these thousands of people.”
No comments:
Post a Comment