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More refugees returned to Turkey from Greek islands

Xinhua, April 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

A total of 124 refugees and migrants were returned to Turkey from Greek islands on Friday, the second of such mission in a week under the EU-Turkey deal to cope with the refugee crisis.

Greek authorities said of the 124 people returned to Turkey from Mytilene port of Lesvos island, 45 were from the Moria camp of Lesvos while 50 were from Kos island and the other 29 from Samos island.

All the 124 people, most of them from Pakistan, have not expressed their will for asylum.

A Pakistani was sent back from the Turkish authorities due to yet unknown reason, according to Yorgos Kyritsis, the spokesman of the body which coordinates Greece's response to the refugee crisis.

In an attempt to stop the deportation procedure, four activists jumped into the sea of Mytilene port. They were detained by the police for about three hours before being released.

As of Friday, of those 3,146 people currently detained in Moria camp, 3,131 had sought asylum.

Boris Cheshirkov, spokesperson for the UNHCR on Lesvos, told Xinhua that the situation in Moria camp has improved with more food portions being provided.

Lesvos Mayor Spyros Galino said 240 people have been transferred from Moria camp to an open center in Kara Tepe of the island in a bid to ease the pressure of Maria camp. Galinos said these people will be hosted there until their asylum requests are examined.

Greece started sending back to Turkey on Monday the first batch of 136 people under the EU-Turkey deal clinched in March to stem the influx into Europe via the Aegean Sea.

Under the controversial deal all migrants and refugees who reached Greece's shores illegally by sea after March 20 will be gradually deported to Turkey once their asylum bids are assessed if they are not eligible.

Since early 2015 until recently one million refugees and migrants who had landed on Greece's shores continued their journey to central and northern Europe.

However, after the gradual border closures along the Balkan route in February, more than 50,000 were trapped in Greece. Enditem