Thessaloniki police probe attack on refugee pupil

Thessaloniki Police are investigating an attack by unidentified assailants on an Iranian middle school pupil in the suburb of Neapoli, reports said on Wednesday. 

According to Neapoli Mayor Simos Daniilidis, the pupil was attacked near the school by two people, whose faces were covered. One of the pair used a sharp instrument to cut the boy on his hand, the mayor said. It is thought that the attackers were not pupils at the school.

In comments to the Athens-Macedonia news agency, the head of the local teachers' union Yianna Lathira referred to a “racist attack” in which “a young refugee was threatened against returning to school and his physical safety put at risk.” She said teachers have been striving for years to educate and integrate refugee children and called on the local community to sideline people with “fascist behavior.” 

Regional education chief Alexandros Koptsis called for a full investigation into the  incident.