Hours before the scheduled start of the deportation of hundreds of migrants from the island of Lesbos, Greek officials had yet to finalize their plans under a deal between the European Union and Turkey. Activists in Lesbos planned a protest for Monday when Greek authorities, with the help of hundreds of border police officers from EU countries, were to escort migrants from the Moria migrant detention camp outside the island’s main city of Mytilini to a port where ferries were to take them back to Turkey.
Greece Scrambles to Finalize EU Migrant Deportation Plan
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A sign near the Mantamados migrant camp, which now sits empty, welcomes arriving migrants, April 3, 2016. That welcome no longer exists following the announcement of the EU Turkey deal.
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Michele Telaro, field coordinator for Medecins Sans Frontieres, in Lesbos, April 3, 2016. "MSF has a lot of concerns about the agreement in general,” Telaro told VOA.
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Lesbos Mayor Spyros Galinos told VOA Sunday: “Today, Europe is at a crossroads. One way it leads to an enlightened Europe of hope, of peace, of solidarity, one that defends human values and the other to a dark, Fascist past."
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Authorities have been working to empty camps like this one, near the village of Mantamados, and transferring them to detention centers in the southern part of the island to await processing, April 2, 2016