Overcrowded islands on the brink of uncontrollable strife
The islands of the eastern Aegean with populations of refugees and migrants who have arrived since March are at risk of increased conflict, according to local observers who are warning that the situation on Greece’s overcrowded islands is “dangerous and could get out of control at any moment.”
Between Tuesday morning and last night, 112 refugees and migrants arrived from Turkey, boosting their total number on the islands to 16,194.
Of these, 6,154 are on Lesvos, 4,144 on Chios, 2,686 on Samos, 2,004 on Kos, 915 on Leros and 285 on Rhodes.
Tensions were further stoked Tuesday on Chios, when Ilias Kasidiaris, a senior member of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, addressed a rally presenting his proposals with regard to the refugee crisis.
The GD rally, like the one scheduled for Wednesday on Lesvos, was slammed by ruling SYRIZA, the Communist Party (KKE) and Popular Unity, which denounced the tolerance of xenophobic and extreme-right rhetoric.
