(AP) The “anxiety and indignation” of Greek island residents living at the forefront of a migration crisis are justified, Greece’s migration and asylum minister said Thursday, and vowed to address dramatic overcrowding on island camps and the increasing number of new arrivals.
Residents and business owners on the islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos have held two days of protests and went on strike to demand that the government tackle severe overcrowding at migrant camps that are all grossly over capacity.
Local mayors and the regional governor traveled to Athens to meet with Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis Thursday to press their demands.
“We consider citizens’ anxiety and indignation justified,” Mitarakis said after the meeting. “Our country is indeed dealing with a migration crisis, and increased migration flows in 2019” put pressure on local communities, he said.
