Incidents were reported on Lesbos and Chios, outlying Greek islands on the front line of a migratory flow of refugees and asylum seekers. Authorities announced this month they would expedite the creation of centres on five Greek islands, angering locals who say they are bearing the primary burden of the refugee crisis.
Witnesses said about 500 people attempted to block the unloading of heavy machinery overnight to break ground at a construction site on Lesbos.
Clashes on the streets followed, with residents attempting to block access to the construction site, and police used teargas. Similar tensions were reported on Chios.
Greece's conservative government has taken a markedly tougher stance towards migration compared to the previous leftist government, issuing a tender for the construction of a floating fence to deter asylum seekers arriving by sea and introducing faster processing procedures that could increase deportations.
| Actual deportations? Be still, my heart! |
That concern was particularly pertinent because of the spread of coronavirus, said Greek government front man Stelios Petsas.
"It is clearly evident that matters such as the coronavirus can be dealt with swiftly and effectively in a closed facility and not an anarchic, open facility which is a health time bomb," Petsas said.
The Moria camp on Lesbos accommodates more than 18,000 people in conditions aid organizations say are appalling.
As of midday on Tuesday, Greece had no confirmed cases of coronavirus.
In addition to Lesbos and Chios, Greek authorities plan to construct closed detention facilities on Samos, Kos and Leros islands. The islands are close to
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor..., from where thousands of asylum seekers head to Europe
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
each year.
Hundreds of thousands of people crossed into Europe from Turkey via Greece in 2015 and 2016 before a deal brokered by the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
limited the flow.
There has, however, been a resurgence in arrivals since September 2019.
Related:
Lesbos: 2020-02-11 Crisis in Lesbos as more refugees arrive
Lesbos: 2020-01-26 Lesbos: 'We want our island back'
Lesbos: 2019-10-06 US warns Turkey over offshore drilling near Cyprus
Lesbos: 2020-02-11 Crisis in Lesbos as more refugees arrive
Lesbos: 2020-01-26 Lesbos: 'We want our island back'
Lesbos: 2019-10-06 US warns Turkey over offshore drilling near Cyprus