News / EU

Greek riot police fire teargas to disperse demonstrators

Saturday, 07 March 2015 10:52 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 07 March 2015 11:08 PM ]

Greek riot police (file photo)

Greek riot police fire teargas to disperse protesters demanding the release of all immigrants and refugees outside one of the country’s largest detention centers.

Clashes broke out on Saturday after police forces used tear gas to disperse protesters gathered outside a detention center in the southeastern city of Corinth.

The demonstrators, waving red and black anarchist flags, broke into the camp's main entrance.

They called on the government to immediately release all immigrants and refugees held in camps and detention centers across the country.

They also urged the new leftist government to reverse the immigration policies put in place by the previous government.

The new government led by Syriza Party has hinted that it will close all immigration detention centers and offer citizenship to Greek-born migrants.

Greece and Italy are two of the major destinations of migrants from the violence-ravaged countries of Africa and the Middle East who leave their homelands to take refuge in Europe.

According to official reports by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 14,000 refugees arrived at the Greek Dodecanese islands from Turkey in 2014, some 90 percent of whom were from war-stricken Syria.

MSM/NT

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