Greek Police Arrest 5 People at Chios Island Refugee Camp Over Weapon Possession

Greek police arrested five people on Saturday over illegal weapon possession within a raid at a migrant and refugee processing center on the Chios island, local media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The four of the arrested were found to possess illegal weapons, while the fifth one was detained over customs law violation, the Ekathimerini newspaper reported. The police raid, aimed at detecting illegal activities at the Vial refugee camp, resulted in questioning of other 24 people, the newspaper specified.

The situation at the refugee camp on the Chios island remains tense. On March 28, violent clashes between rival ethnic groups of Algerian and Afghan refugees erupted in the camp, resulting in arrests of at least 10 people.

Europe has been beset by a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants fleeing their crisis-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa to escape violence and poverty. The majority of them cross the Mediterranean Sea and arrive in the European Union using southern EU nations as transit points.

In March, Greek Migration Minister Ioannis Mouzalas announced that the country had reached the limit of its capacities and could not "take back a single refugee."