Greece Begins Deportation of Migrants to Turkey

Some 200 migrants were deported by boat on Monday from the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios to the Turkish coastal town of Dikili, escorted by officers from the EU border protection agency Frontex.

Greek media reported that riot police units were also deployed on the boats.

"All of the migrants returned are from Pakistan except for two migrants from Syria who returned voluntarily," Giorgos Kyritsis, a spokesman for the Greek government refugee crisis committee, told state television, the Associated Press reported.

As to further deportations, Kyritsis said there was "no timetable for returns".

"Examining [asylum] applications will take some time," he added.

Television footage from Lesbos showed that the deportations passed off without incident.

The deal between the EU and Turkey to deport migrants has been harshly criticised by human rights groups who argue that Turkey cannot be considered a safe country.

The EU has agreed to accept one person from Turkey for every refugee sent back from Greece.

Greek media reported that the resettlement scheme was first tested over the weekend, when the Athens authorities deported some 130 people, mainly Pakistanis, to Turkey.

Migrants deported by Greece will be relocated to the areas in which they first registered upon arriving in Turkey.

Turkish media reports have suggested that the deportations might hit a roadblock in the town of Dikili, where some 4,000 residents, a tenth of town's population, have signed a petition opposing the plan to temporarily house the migrants there.