Locals clash with police over migrant detention center

Residents of Amygdaleza, northwest of Athens, clashed with police on Wednesday outside one of several sites slated by authorities for the creation of detention centers for undocumented migrants.

The site is located next to a police training ground and has also drawn the opposition of the Attica police workers’ union, which has expressed safety concerns as cadets use it to practice shooting.

Locals turned out in force and scuffled with officers on Wednesday morning after municipal officials turned up in vehicles and blocked the entrance to the site. The local mayor, Sotiris Douros, told Kathimerini that officials from the Citizens’ Protection Ministry had informed him of a plan to transfer up to 800 migrants to the site in groups for a period of up to three months.

Local authorities and residents in other parts of the country earmarked for the construction of migrant detention centers have expressed similar opposition.

Ekathimerini.com