Ministry denies reports migrants were handcuffed on ferry

The Citizens’ Protection Ministry on Tuesday denied media reports earlier in the day suggesting that some 150 migrants from Afghanistan and Pakistan were placed in handcuffs during their transfer by ferry from the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos to the Greek capital’s port of Piraeus.

The ministry said the migrants were under police guard during the journey and were only briefly handcuffed while they were transferred from the ferryboat onto police buses that were to take them to a detention facility in Corinth.

It added that this particular group of migrants is slated for deportation.