Violence and tension related to the presence of thousands of Mideast war refugees and irregular migrants from Third World countries stranded on two eastern Aegean islands was reported late Thursday evening.
The islands in question, Lesvos and Chios, have borne the brunt of the refugee / migrant crisis that erupted on a major scale in the Aegean a year and a half ago, as thousands of people departed Turkey unhindered to reach whatever Greek – and by extension – EU territory.
On Chios, a protest by local residents against what they charged was overcrowding at a migrant “hotspot” led to a brief showdown with third country nationals at the camp. Riot police intervened and defused the situation.
Meanwhile, another round of rioting at the Moria “hotspot” and fighting between various ethnic groups of young men being hosted at the temporary shelter was reported on Lesvos.
