In the end, of the nearly 700 occupants of this Eleonas camp, only around thirty people have so far been evacuated. According to the Ministry of Migration, however, this evacuation process should be completed by the end of the year.
With our correspondent in Athens, Joel Bronner
On Twitter, Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis first describes the general situation. “ In cooperation with the Municipality of Athens, he writes, we are proceeding with the closure of the Eleonas camp, as (…) there are places available in other existing structures “. ” Unfortunately, then laments the Minister, a small number of migrants and groups that support them attempt to blast [c]th movement “.
Faced with this closure announced, since the day before, to the cries of “no close”, no to the closure, a certain number of residents, indeed oppose their evacuation from this urban camp, in the suburbs of Athens, towards d other more isolated and closed structures. Like the words of this resident, relayed by videos filmed on the spot: ” Elaionas must not close. Elaionas, this is my house! If you close Eleonas, you are going to have problems. »
At dawn the following day, this Thursday, around 5 a.m., clashes broke out, after the Greek police first removed the barricades that residents had erected at the entrances. Riot control forces then used tear gas to drive away migrants and solidarity activists.
Along with the development of camps on the islands, Eleonas was the first refugee camp to open in mainland Greece. It was seven years ago, in August 2015, at the heart of the European migration crisis.