Blaze hits Greek refugee centre as border clashes continue
● Island warehouse destroyed as Erdogan heads to Brussels for talks
A fire broke out at a refugee centre on the Greek island of Lesbos yesterday, causing damage to a warehouse but no injuries, the firefighting service said.
It was the second fire at a unit built for migrants, after a reception centre was burned down by unknown perpetrators last Monday.
The warehouse, which contained furniture and electrical appliances, was destroyed, the firefighting service said. An investigation into the fire is under way.
The blaze at the refugee centre came amid a standoff between Turkey and the European Union over who is responsible for the millions of migrants and refugees on Turkish territory and the thousands who have massed at the Greek border.
Thousands of migrants headed for Turkey’s land border with EU member Greece after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government announced this month that it would no longer prevent migrants and refugees from crossing over to EU countries.
Mr Erdogan said last week he was “opening the doors” for refugees to enter Europe. But on Saturday he 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.
Greece has deployed riot police and border guards to repel people trying to enter the country.
The Greek border has since seen violent confrontations between the migrants and Greek security forces, with officers in Greece firing tear gas to block the migrants and Turkish police firing tear gas back at their Greek counterparts.
On Saturday, youths threw rocks at Greek police and tried to break down a border fence in a desperate attempt enter
Greece. At least two migrants were injured in the skirmishes.
The Greek government released a video purporting to show a Turkish armoured vehicle trying to pull down part of border fence with a rope. It claimed the vehicle was partly bought with EU border funds. There was no comment from Turkish officials.
Greece also arrested five migrants overnight.
Turkey is accusing Greece of mistreating the migrants.
Many have reported crossing into Greece, being beaten by Greek authorities and summarily forced back into Turkey.
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.
Mr Erdogan was expected to travel to Brussels today to talk to EU officials about a 2016 Turkey-eu agreement on containing the refugee flows to Europe which has now collapsed.
The two sides have accused each other of failing to respect their commitments.
The deal called for Turkey to halt the flow of Europebound migrants and refugees in exchange for up to £5.2 billion in aid for Syrian refugees on its territory, fast-track EU membership and visa-free travel to Europe for Turkish citizens.
Mr Erdogan has demanded that Europe shoulder more of the burden, accusing the EU of failing to disburse the money.
The decision has angered EU countries, which are still dealing with the political fallout from a wave of mass migration five years ago.
EU foreign ministers have criticised Turkey, saying it is using the migrants’ desperation “for political purposes”.
Thousands of migrants have slept in makeshift camps near the border waiting for the opportunity to enter Greece.