Chios

Greek island residents went on strike for a second day on Thursday, stepping up protests against government plans for new migrant camps on five islands after violent clashes with police.

Dozens of policemen deployed to two eastern Greek islands to quell protests over planned new migrant detention centers have been injured during two days of clashes with local residents, authorities said on Feb. 26.

A meeting between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Kostas Moutzouris scheduled for Thursday in a bid to de-escalate tension on the islands has been canceled after a video emerged of the North Aegean regional governor criticizing the conservative prime minister while making an obscene gesture.

After extensive clashes between officers and islanders that left 62 people injured on the eastern Aegean islands of Lesvos and Chios, the government announced on Wednesday that it is withdrawing most of the riot police units that were stationed there to counter fierce reaction to the creation of new, closed migrant camps.

Police in riot gear threw teargas and fired water cannon at Greek islanders as they tried to prevent access to construction sites for new migrant detention centers by setting fires, hurling flares and blockading the gates.

Locals on Lesvos and Chios are worried that the centers, which would replace temporary camps with open access, will leave the islands permanently overcrowded.

Despite vehement local opposition to the construction of new closed centers on the Aegean islands and Tuesday's clashes between residents and riot police, the government insists it does not intend to back down from its decision to go ahead with the plan.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias in a speech to the annual meeting of the UN Human Rights Council - which this year focused on the protection of children - stressed that Greece has saved the lives of thousands of refugees and migrants and has shouldered a disproportionately large share of the burden of the crisis.

Local authorities and residents on the Aegean islands of Lesvos and Chios are preparing for a full-scale conflict to prevent the start of construction work over the next few days on new closed structures for migrants.

Protest groups said they are guarding the sites where the government intends to build the centers.

The government is determined to move ahead with its plan to build new holding facilities for migrants and refugees as part of a plan to accelerate asylum procedures and deportations on the five islands hosting camps, its spokesman said on Tuesday, amid reactions to the scheme from island residents.

Protest groups on three eastern Greek islands on Monday began setting up blockades aimed at stopping the government from building new migrant detention centers.
The groups on Lesvos, Chios, and Samos have received broad support on the islands, including from municipal authorities and farming associations.