Migrants situated at the Greek-Macedonian border continue to protest and demand the border crossing to be opened, and those at the port of Piraeus refuse to be transferred in the transit centers, while those on the islands in the Aegean Sea massively seek asylum in Greece, newspaper Proto Thema informed.
According to the newspaper, the past several days close to 10,000 asylum requests have been filed. Greek authorities cannot review them quickly which only slows down the procedure for deportation of migrants to Turkey.
On Thursday, 250 immigrants on the island of Samos have managed to exit the transit center where they were accommodated, and started to roam the streets in groups, which caused fear among the local residents. Police in the end managed to return them back to the center. The goal of the immigrants was to reach the coast and board some of the ships sailing toward the continental part of Greece, and escape the island in order not to be deported to Turkey, the newspaper wrote.
At the same time, authorities continue their attempts to convince refugees in Piraeus, to leave the improvised camp and to stay in the transit centers. The Government has plans to transfer the migrants by Easter, when an increased movement at the port is expected. According to unofficial information, migrants will not leave the port after all, they will only be re-situated in its other part.
Proto Thema informed about the protests on the border with Macedonia, where migrants demand to be allowed to continue their journey north along the Balkan route. The newspaper noticed that their tactics is placing women and children in the first lines, which makes it more difficult for the police to handle them. The situation is going out of control, and the refugee crisis has turned into an internal issue of enormous scale, Proto Thema wrote.