Greek islanders, officials protest in Athens over migrant overcrowding

Residents and officials from three eastern Aegean Greek islands have gathered outside the country’s Ministry for Migration, protesting against increasingly overcrowded conditions for newly arriving migrants and refugees. The mayors of Lesbos, Chios and Samos, along with dozens of locals, traveled to the mainland on Tuesday, demanding that the government takes measures to reduce overcrowding, AP said. Under an EU-Turkey deal, those arriving on Greek islands from the Turkish coast are held in camps on the islands and face deportation back to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. The lengthy process has led to severe overcrowding. On Lesbos, more than 6,500 people are stuck in facilities with a capacity of just over 2,300.