Migrant protests erupt in Greece over poor living conditions

A two-year-old Syrian drowned on Sunday at a pool at the Myrsini reception center in western Greece, sparking a small protest, local authorities announced on Monday.

Meanwhile, a fiercer protest by refugees and migrants was held inside the Moria hotspot on the island of Lesvos in the eastern Aegean over dire living conditions and long delays in the assessment of asylum bids.

Under still unclear circumstances, the Syrian boy lost his life on Sunday evening at the pool which was filled with water from the heavy rainfall of last week, despite efforts of volunteers to revive him before his transfer to a local hospital, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

About 200 refugees have been accommodated at Myrsini camp since the spring. Following the drowning incident, they protested the lack of a permanent doctor inside the camp.

Meanwhile, on Monday, groups of refugees and migrants detained at the Moria hotspot on Lesvos island staged another stormier demonstration setting fire to shipping containers, local police told Xinhua.

Approximately 70 people, mostly from Pakistan and Bangladesh, attacked the offices of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) , protesting for their detention for several months, according to police.

Twenty-three protesters were arrested, Nikos Ververis, spokesperson for the local police told said. Eight shipping containers were destroyed.

Order was restored following the intervention of police and the fire brigade, but anxiety remains.

"We were very frightened and told to leave the camp immediately," an NGO worker told Xinhua, speaking on condition of anonymity.

An African immigrant said the protest was held because 17 police officers had recently left the EASO premises.

"There are not as many officers as needed in order to manage the asylum procedure. We have been waiting since March and nobody has called us for an interview," he said.

Protests at Moria have been frequent this autumn. Last month, almost half the tents set up for refugees were burned down in another demonstration.

Under the EU-Turkey agreement put in effect last March to stem the refugee influx into Europe, all incoming refugees and migrants are held on the Greek islands until asylum authorities approve their requests or deport them to Turkey.

Due to shortage of adequate personnel and delays in procedures, some 15,000 refugees and migrants are currently stranded on the islands, being hosted in overcrowded facilities which were built to accommodate about 8,000 people, according to the latest figures released on Monday by Greek authorities.

After the closure of the Balkan route to central Europe, more than 60,000 refugees and migrants have been trapped in Greece, according to the Refugee Crisis Management Coordination Body.

Despite progress made in recent months, much more remain to be done by the Greek government and European Union to improve living conditions in the temporary hospitality centers and speed up the relocation of refugees in other European countries, NGOs have repeatedly stressed. Endit