Water cannon and tear gas used at the Turkey-Greece border
ATHENS/ANKARA, March 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A fire has ripped through a refugee shelter on the Greek island of Lesbos as tensions over a surge in migration from Turkey continue to rise.
Flames engulfed the One Happy Family centre, near the island’s capital Mitilini, on Saturday.
It is not clear how the fire started. No casualities have been reported.
In recent days, there has been hostility towards migrants on Lesbos after an increase in arrivals from Turkey.
Hundreds of migrants have attempted to reach the island since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week he was “opening the doors” for refugees to enter Europe.
But on Saturday, Erdogan partially reversed his position. He ordered the Turkish coastguard to stop migrants from crossing the Aegean Sea to Greece because it is unsafe to do so.
The EU has accused Erdogan of using migrants for political purposes. It insists its doors are “closed”.
Meanwhile, clashes have again erupted at the land border between Greece and Turkey.
There appears to have been no change in Turkey’s position with regard to letting migrants try to enter Greece via this route.
On Saturday, Greek police fired tear gas at crowds at the border crossing at Kastanies, who responded by throwing stones and shouting “open the gates”.
Earlier on Saturday, Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi announced fresh restrictions on asylum seekers designed to stem the flow of migration from Turkey.
“Accommodation and benefits for those granted asylum will be interrupted within a month. From then on, they will have to work for a living,” the minister said.
“This makes our country a less attractive destination for migration flows.” — NNN-AGENCIES
