Tensions peak at protest over refugee children at school in Oraiokastro

Riot police were dispatched to a primary school in Oraiokastro, near Thessaloniki, on Monday when tensions escalated between a group of far-rightists protesting the presence of refugee children at afternoon classes and anti-fascists.

Members of a group calling itself the "Patriotic Union of Greek Citizens of Oraiokastro" protested outside the school, waving Greek flags and chanting patriotic slogans. Leftist protesters meanwhile gathered in an alternative gathering, berating the first group as "fascists."

A video showed the 15 refugee children filing off the bus and into the school building amid loud boos from the rightist protesters.

Last Friday a group of protesters tried to chain themselves to the entrance gate of the same school in a bid to keep refugee children out.