According to police authorities, tensions started after Yiannis Mouzalas said to a group of unaccompanied minors that they could soon be moved in other centers suitable for minors which are currently being built around Greece. Refugees held at the Moria detention centers, angered by the news, started breaking windows and setting fire to blankets and rubbish bins, when the two ministers left, police sources said.
Mouzalas returned to try to calm things down but was soaked with a garden hose and pelted with stones. The two ministers left the camp and the riots extended to other sections of the center where refugees and migrants remain detained waiting for their asylum applications to be reviewed.
About 10 persons were injured and Mouzalas visited them earlier today at the hospital where they have been taken. Mouzalas told reporters outside the hospital that people are tired and losing hope. Commenting on the incident earlier today, he said “there have been minor clashes, which later in the evening were extended and at some point police had to intervene”. He noted that “violence was used, because it had to be used”. He added that it will be examined whether it was to the appropriate extent.
“What I have seen in front of me, showed some severity, and some severity was needed. I am speaking to you about what I saw. We are expecting such explosions, everything will be judged on our ability to respond to these explosions and on the ability of the European Union to implement the deal” Yiannis Mouzalas said.
“These people suddenly saw the routes closing again; they know they will return back, they will not be able to go to Germany or Austria or the Netherlands or wherever they wanted to go. We have to behave to them according to the rule of law and the requirements of the European Union, to examine their applications for asylum” he added. The minister recognized that “this is a painful procedure for them, which becomes even more difficult” as they have to wait detained for more than 20 days. He clarified though that they are not held in cells or similar facilities.