THESSALONIKI, Greece: A riot broke out late Wednesday at a migrant detention center in northern Greece, leaving two police officers injured and 30 migrants arrested, authorities said.
The facility where the unrest erupted was holding about 750 migrants of various nationalities, police said. Two officers were treated for injuries after being hit by a rock and bitten on the hand.
Greece this summer introduced one of Europe’s toughest migration regimes, allowing detention for up to 24 months and imposing prison terms of two to five years for illegal entry or stay. Under the stricter laws, migrants denied asylum face mandatory jail sentences.
Wednesday’s clashes came a day after three migrants died and 55 were rescued near the southern island of Crete when a boat carrying them from Libya sank. Two of the rescued migrants, both from Sudan, were arrested on smuggling charges.
Arrivals from Libya to Crete have surged in recent months. But Migration Minister Thanos Plevris said earlier Wednesday that overall migrant arrivals had dropped compared with a year earlier.
He defended Greece’s tough migration laws and voiced support for proposals backed by other European Union members to establish dedicated deportation centers.
Riot at Greek migrant detention center leaves 2 police injured, 30 migrants arrested
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Riot at Greek migrant detention center leaves 2 police injured, 30 migrants arrested
- The facility where the unrest erupted was holding about 750 migrants of various nationalities
- Arrivals from Libya to Crete have surged in recent months
Cuba says a 5th person died after people on a Florida-flagged speedboat opened fire on soldiers
- Authorities in Cuba said that on Feb. 26 Cuban soldiers confronted a speedboat carrying 10 people as the vessel approached the island and opened fire on the troops
- The shooting threatened to increase tensions between US President Donald Trump and Cuban authorities
HAVANA: Cuba said a fifth person has died as a consequence of a fatal shootout last month involving a Florida-flagged speedboat that allegedly opened fire on soldiers in waters off the island nation’s north coast.
The island’s interior ministry said late Thursday in a statement that Roberto Álvarez Ávila died on March 4 as a result of his injuries. It added that the remaining injured detainees “continue to receive specialized medical care according to their health status.”
Authorities in Cuba said that on Feb. 26 Cuban soldiers confronted a speedboat carrying 10 people as the vessel approached the island and opened fire on the troops. They said the passengers were armed Cubans living in the US who were trying to infiltrate the island and “unleash terrorism”. Cuba said its soldiers killed four people and wounded six others.
“The statements made by the detainees themselves, together with a series of investigative procedures, reinforce the evidence against them,” the Cuban interior ministry said in its statement, adding that “new elements are being obtained that establish the involvement of other individuals based in the US”
Earlier this week, Cuba said it had filed terrorism charges against six suspects that were on the speedboat. The government unveiled items said to have been found on the boat, including a dozen high-powered weapons, more than 12,800 pieces of ammunition and 11 pistols.
Cuban authorities have provided few details about the shooting, but said the boat was roughly 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) northeast of Cayo Falcones, off the country’s north coast. They also provided the boat’s registration number, but The Associated Press was unable to readily verify the details because boat registrations are not public in the state of Florida.
The shooting threatened to increase tensions between US President Donald Trump and Cuban authorities. The island’s economy was until recently largely kept economically afloat by Venezuela’s oil, which is now in doubt after a US military operation deposed then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
