LESBOS: Greece: A general strike virtually shut down the Greek island of Lesbos on Thursday as residents protested a European Union migration policy that has left thousands of asylum-seekers stranded here.
Most businesses, shops, cafes and local government offices were shuttered in the main town of Mytilene. The only sign of normality was that police officers were still on duty, and the local tax office was open.
Two protest rallies were planned later in the day when Tsipras was due to speak at a conference. Stores were also closed in protest on the nearby island of Chios.
More than 15,000 migrants and refugees remain stuck on Lesbos, Chios, and three other islands, most staying in severely overcrowded camps.
“Thousands of people are still living in appalling conditions with limited access to medical facilities,” the aid group Doctors Without Borders. Conditions at the largest refugee camp in Lesbos, the group said “were putting the health and lives of people stranded on the island at risk.”
Additional police officers, including anti-riot units, have been sent to Lesbos and took up positions around Mytilene. Supporters and opponents of the government used vans fitted with loudspeakers to promote the protest as well as a speech planned by the prime minister later Thursday.
Under a 2016 EU-Turkey agreement, migrants arriving on Greek islands from Turkey are held on the islands facing deportation to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. The deal has created a massive backlog.
Tension on the islands has been building as the number of migrants arriving from Turkey has risen sharply in recent weeks.
“The situation on the island is exceptionally difficult. We are feeling the effects of a long-term financial crisis and the way the refugee crisis has been handled,” Lesbos Mayor Spyros Galinos said.
“For there to be any talk of growth or recovery, we must first be lifted out of this emergency situation.”
The government has promised to move thousands of asylum-seekers to the mainland but says the effort will take several months to implement — requiring additional staff and more shelter sites around Greece.
In the meantime, the number of daily arrivals continues to rise on the island and Greece’s land border with Turkey
Authorities said 53 people believed to be from Iraq and Syria were picked up Thursday after a yacht used to smuggle them into the country ran aground on a remote mainland beach in northeastern Greece.
The 12-meter (40-foot) Turkish-flagged yacht ran aground on Molyvoti beach in the northeastern Rodopi region, far from any of the usual smuggling routes used to ferry migrants and refugees from Turkey to Greece.
The group was made up of 19 men, 11 women and 23 children between the ages of 2 and 8.
Greek island on strike to protest migrant policy
Greek island on strike to protest migrant policy
More than 1,000 councilors in UK sign Palestine pledge
- Issue could prove decisive in local elections set for May, campaigners say
- Campaign pledges councilors to ‘uphold inalienable rights of the Palestinian people’
LONDON: More than 1,000 local councilors in the UK have signed a pledge of solidarity with Palestine, in what could prove to be a crucial issue in upcoming elections, Sky News reported on Saturday.
Many Labour-run councils face the prospect of losing power in the local elections, set for May.
The issue of Palestine could play a decisive role in key sections of the electorate, campaigners have said.
The document, launched by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and signed by 1,028 councilors so far, pledges signatories to “uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people” and prevent councils’ complicity in “Israel’s violations of international law,” including by divesting from pension funds invested in arms companies.
Zoe Garbett, a Hackney Green councilor who signed the pledge, told Sky News: “I think that this is really important to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people and to make sure that we can make ethical investments. They want to see their council representing them on a national level.”
She added: “We know that most people really want to see an end to the genocide in Gaza, and an end to wars and conflicts all across the world, and they want to see their local representatives standing up for them.”
Of the signatories to the pledge, 245 councilors are from the Green Party, 338 from Labour, 104 Liberal Democrats, 38 from the Scottish National Party, 17 from Plaid Cymru, 12 from Your Party, three Conservatives and many independents.
Labour has faced significant pressure from its traditional voter base over the issue of Gaza, especially after Prime Minister Keir Starmer appeared reluctant to call for a ceasefire.
Key London borough councils, dominated by Labour, have seen councilors sign up en masse to the pledge.
In Islington, a Labour stronghold, 59 percent of councilors signed the pledge, while 49 percent signed in Tower Hamlets.
Similar trends have taken place in Sheffield — where no party has overall council control — and Bradford.
Richard Burgon, Labour MP for Leeds East, said: “I think that so many Labour councilors have been so keen to sign the Palestine pledge as councilors because it puts on record that support for Palestine and distinguishes them from the position taken by the leader of the Labour Party.”
Alongside PSC, Britain’s most significant pro-Palestine group, the pledge is also supported by the Palestinian Youth Movement Britain, the Palestinian Forum in Britain, The Muslim Vote and the British Palestinian Committee.
PSC political organizer Dan Iley-Williamson said local councils in the UK “administer pension funds that invest more than £12 billion ($16 billion)” in weapons firms linked to Israel.
“The mass movement for Palestine — which has brought millions onto Britain’s streets — is not going away,” he added.
