Greek deportation of migrants resumes
GREECE has resumed deportations of refugees and migrants from its islands to Turkey after a four-day pause, sending back 124 people on two boats from Lesbos to a port on the Turkish coast.
Before the first boat left the island, four activists jumped into the sea to try to obstruct the operation – swimming to the front of the chartered ferry and grabbing the anchor chain – and were detained by the coastguard.
The migrants were placed on the boats by officers from the European Union’s border protection agency and taken to the Turkish port of Dikili where health and migration officials checked the passengers.
The migrants were then whisked on to policeescorted buses.
An agreement between Turkey and the EU came into full effect on Monday when 202 migrants were sent back.
About 4,000 migrants and refugees who reached the Greek islands from Turkey after March 20 are being held in detention camps to be screened for deportation.
The returns have been held up by delays in processing asylum claims by overwhelmed Greek authorities.
On the Greek islands, protests continued at overcrowded detention camps. Police cleared the main port on the island of Chios overnight, where scores of migrants had been camped after pushing their way out of a detention camp.
Scuffles took place between police and Greek protesters staging rival demonstrations at the port for and against the migrants there.