Migrant escape bid linked to Gaza crisis
An alarm was raised on Thursday night on the southeastern Aegean island of Leros when 123 Palestinian and Syrian refugees and migrants attempted to leave the migrant facility and board a ship destined for Piraeus, catching local officials by surprise.
The incident began to unfold shortly after 9 p.m. when the management of the facility became aware that a large group of refugees and migrants had not returned to the accommodation facility where they had been staying.
Most were stopped at the port before they could board and returned to the facility. Four managed to board the ship but were arrested by the coast guard in Piraeus.
The incident was linked by the country’s security and intelligence officials to the Palestinian organization Hamas’ call for a holy war a few days earlier in response to the Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, protest meetings were scheduled for Friday in Athens, which the migrants apparently wanted to attend before being stopped by Greek police on Leros.
Kathimerini understands that the National Security Service (EYP) and the Anti-Terrorist Service had issued warnings to the management of the reception and identification centers of migrants on the eastern Aegean islands and beyond, informing them of the risk of riots, incidents and general unrest in the structures.
Over the last few days, EYP has reportedly detected messages on the internet and in closed groups on apps such as WhatsApp, calling for resistance against the “extermination of the Palestinian people.”
The incident was preceded by demonstrations of support for Hamas by Palestinian refugees hosted at the Samos migrant facility, while there is also concern about the Kos facility, which hosts a large number of migrants and refugees from Palestine, Syria and countries of the Arab world that are positively inclined toward the Palestinians.
