Villagers threw stones at refugee buses in northern Greece and forced them to turn back. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) was concerned in a statement and spoke of an isolated case. Despite police presence were on the night of Wednesday nine buses with about 380 refugees from dozens of residents of the village Nea Vrasna held up, as Greek media report.
According to AFP news agency, the villagers blocked the street, hurled stones at the vehicles and shouted "Close the borders" and "Throw out illegal immigrants." The refugees were eventually housed in hotels on the island of Euboea - 400 kilometers away from Nea Vrasna.
IOM considers last night events in the area of Vrasna in N. Greece as an isolated incident, but calls on all government and non-government actors to work together in order to avoid similar situations happen again.
https: //t.co/LE04e1OeQu pic.twitter.com/b5g7XRJJiA
The IOM called on the Greek government and aid organizations "to work together to prevent similar situations". In recent years, Greece has observed a predominantly solidary and respectful approach to immigrants.
The number of refugees fleeing from Turkey to neighboring Greece has increased again recently. There are currently more than 70,000 refugees in Greece, almost 33,000 in overcrowded camps in the Aegean Islands. Much of them are from Syria and Afghanistan.