Tensions Erupt on Greek Islands as Asylum Policies Bite

Between September 2019 and January 2020, the government transferred 14,750 people to the mainland, even as 36,000 new arrivals crossed the Aegean to Greece from Turkey, according to UNHCR data.

A shortage of accommodation on the mainland coupled with stricter government asylum policies and a determination to increase deportations have all contributed to overcrowding on the islands, inflaming tensions between locals and asylum seekers from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Such tensions poured onto the streets of Lesbos, Chios and Samos late last month as Greek islanders demanded the centre-right government take steps to reduce asylum-seeker numbers.

During the protests, local politicians whipped up xenophobic sentiment, spreading rumours about the role of pro-refugee NGOs and promoting far-right "great replacement" conspiracy theories, national media reported.

Asylum seekers on Lesbos also demonstrated, twice at the beginning of February. They called for an end to restrictions leaving them stranded in the Moria refugee camp, a sprawling shantytown on the hills of Lesbos. Police responded with tear gas.

Asylum seekers who live in Moria camp march to the town of Mytilini on Lesbos on February 3, 2020 during a protest for better living conditions and faster asylum procedures. Clashes between a group of roughly 1,000 asylum seekers from the Moria reception and identification centre and police were reported outside Mytilene. The tension spiked when police sought to prevent the demonstrators from marching to Mytilene, the island's main town. The asylum seekers set fire to farmland in the area, while a group of around 1,000 attempted to reach the town via the surrounding mountains. Photo: EPA-EFE/STRATIS BALASKAS

Greek...