Greek Migration Minister Calls for Creation of Small Refugee Centers on Islands

Greek Migration Minister Yiannis Mouzalas said that the creation of small isolated facilities on islands to accommodate migrants who demonstrated violent behavior in ordinary centers would minimize tensions between refugees and local communities.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Greek Migration Minister Yiannis Mouzalas has called for the creation of small isolated facilities on islands to accommodate migrants who demonstrated violent behavior in ordinary centers amid the slow pace of processing asylum applications, local media reported.

"We propose small facilities for 150-200 people," Mouzalas told the Kathimerini newspaper adding that it would minimize tensions between refugees and local communities.

Europe is suffering from a massive migration crisis, trying to find a way to tackle the flow of undocumented migrants from the Middle East and North Africa. Greece is on the frontline of the refugee crisis, as hundreds of thousands of people arrive in the Balkan state crossing the Mediterranean in order to seek asylum in the European Union.

The security situation in migrant reception areas on Greek islands is poor, as migrants are frequently staging riots amid bad living conditions in the camps and extended stay there. In October, refugees from Pakistan and Bangladesh set on fire the headquarters of the European Asylum Support Office on Lesbos due to frustration over slow processing of their asylum applications.

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