Yiannis Balpakakis

A day after regional authorities threatened to close down the overcrowded and unsanitary Moria reception center for migrants on Lesvos, employees have stepped up protests over conditions at the facility.

Giorgos Matthaiou, who is vice president of the national union of reception center workers, told reporters that a rally outside the Moria center on Monday was "a warning protest."

Overcrowding at the Moria migrant camp on Lesvos has reached worrying proportions, with 8,359 residents cramped into a facility designed to hold just 3,100, though the head of the center has rebuffed media claims that the bad conditions are pushing children to attempt suicide.