Ministry seeks to stop Samos protest of migrant schooling

The Education Ministry's regional director for the northern Aegean, Aristidis Kalargalis, is due on Thursday to meet with the prosecutor of Samos to explore ways to stop a group of local parents from keeping pupils out of school in protest at the admission of migrant and refugee children from the island's camps.

The education official has also sought the support of influential clerics on the island to talk the parents out of their action, according to ministry announcement on Wednesday.

“A small number of parents have for the past two weeks tried to cultivate a climate of racism and xenophobia,” the Education Ministry said. “After poisoning their children with their abhorrent beliefs, they are now trying to influence other parents.”

The parents in question have said that accepting children from the camps into the island's schools poses a “public health hazard.”