Hundreds on Greek island protest migrant deal
About 500 people on the Greek island of Lesvos are protesting against a European Union migration policy, many of them holding black flags.
Police have set up a cordon at the island's main port and are using riot police buses to prevent protesters from coming close to government officials visiting the island. One group of marchers filed past coast guard cutters from Greece, Italy and Britain, chanting "solidarity with refugees."
Protester Nikos Bourboulis said: "We are all suffering here — the refugees and the islanders. Unless we push back, nothing will change."
A general strike has virtually shut down the island to protest a 2016 EU-Turkey agreement. Under the deal, migrants arriving on Greek islands from Turkey are held on the islands facing deportation to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece.
The deal has created a massive backlog, angering people on Lesvos and other Greek islands. [AP]
