LESBOS IN FLAMES: Rampaging migrant mob STORMS asylum support offices on Greek island
RIOTS have broken out on the Greek island of Lesbos where migrants have stormed European Asylum Support Office (EASO) buildings.
Fire rips through European Asylum Support Office buildings on Lesbos
Police said a mob of around 70 people, most from Pakistan and Bangladesh, threw rocks and burning blankets at EASO containers inside the Moria migrant camp.
EASO Spokesman Jean-Pierre Schembri said protesters had hurled petrol bombs while interviews with asylum-seekers were taking place.
Staff have now evacuated the camp and the processing of asylum claims has been suspended.
Fire breaks out at migrant camp in Lesbos
A young migrant stands as stares as flames tear through the Moria camp on Lesbos
Mr Schembri said: “They burnt our offices this morning. The process will not resume for the time being.
"We have to evaluate security issues and in our view we need more presence of Greece police to be in place."
Migrants detained in the Moria migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos
More than 15,000 asylum-seekers are living in overcrowded camps on Greek islands close to Turkey, stranded by a European deal with Ankara to seal the main route into the continent for a million refugees and migrants last year.
Asylum-seekers wait for weeks or months for their claims to be processed.
There are nearly 6,000 asylum-seekers on Lesbos alone, nearly double the capacity its two camps can handle. Violence and protests at the conditions there are frequent.
Asylum support staff were forced to flee their offices at the Moria camp on Lesbos
Human rights groups have criticised conditions in Moria as deplorable and depraved.
And an increase in arrivals in recent months from Turkey has added to the pressure on Greek authorities and the tensions within the ramshackle camp.
The detention centre at Moria has capacity to house no more than 3,000 but is said to be holding almost twice that number following fears the EU-Turkey deal – agreed earlier this year to staunch the flows – could be on the verge of collapse because of political conflict between Brussels and Ankara.
Violent clashes between rival ethnic groups at the camp are regular occurrances with fights frequently erupting between Afghan and Syrian detainees.