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Refugee camp on Lesvos (archive image)
Photo: VANGELIS PAPANTONIS / EPA-EFE
Demonstrators have tried to stop the construction of a new camp for refugees on the Greek island of Lesvos.
As it became known on Tuesday, the police had to prevent around 500 demonstrators from reaching Vastria, where the detention center is to be built.
There were several arrests during the protests on Monday, state radio said.
"All camps on the islands should close," the demonstrators chanted.
They reportedly broke through a police barrier at one point and set fire to a construction company's truck.
Many islanders in the eastern Aegean have long opposed the establishment of new refugee camps, which are also financed with EU funds.
The systems have already been completed on Samos, Leros and Kos.
They are supposed to offer the migrants decent living conditions, but are criticized by aid organizations as prisons.
The camps are far away from civilization, the residents are only allowed to leave them at certain times.
The camp on Lesvos is not expected to be completed before autumn.
Around 1,700 migrants are still living there in the Kara Tepe temporary camp, which was built almost overnight after the major fire in the notorious Moria camp in September 2020.
til/dpa