Refugees evicted from squat set up camp in Syntagma

Some 40 refugees, including several children, who were evicted from a squat in the downtown Athens neighborhood of Exarchia have been camping in front of Parliament since Friday morning.

The documented asylum-seekers set up tents in Syntagma Square after the building on Bouboulinas Street they called home for more than a year was cleared in a police crackdown on crime in the area on Thursday.

The City of Athens appears concerned about their fate. “You can’t throw families with small children into the street without having first considered what will happen to them,” said an official who declined to be named.

The migrants may be moved to the Elaionas camp – the only one in Athens – if there is space for them, the official added.