Two Arrested for Molotov Cocktail Attack on Migrants on Greek Lesbos Island

Two men were arrested in the city of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos, after several Molotov cocktails were thrown at tents housing refugees, Greek police confirmed.

ATHENS (Sputnik) — Two Greek nationals, aged 17 and 19-years-old, were arrested on Sunday by local police, on suspicion of throwing homemade Molotov cocktails in Mytilene's municipal park, injuring a 30-year old migrant.

After the first attack, the two young men moved to another park where they proceeded to throw two more homemade firebombs at migrants, police said.

The two men were arrested and charged with a number of criminal offenses, including violating laws on weapons and explosives, racism, and causing bodily harm.

On Sunday, a group of nearly 300 refugees, mainly from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, staged a protest on Lesbos against the local authorities' failure to process their applications fast enough, so that they could travel onward to mainland Europe.

In recent days, clashes between police and refugees on the island have become a frequent occurrence.

The Greek islands have become the center of the growing migrant crisis in Europe, as they are being used by refugees, fleeing conflicts and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa, as the transit point on their journey to more prosperous EU member states.

According to preliminary data by the EU border agency Frontex published on Tuesday, over 23,000 migrants arrived in Greece by sea last week, a nearly 50 percent rise on the previous week.