Citizen Protection Minister visits Tae Kwon Do stadium after migrant bickering

The minister visited the shelter on Saturday following an outbreak of violence and bickering between Moroccan migrants and other groups that forced police to intervene

Greek Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas paid a visit to the Tae Kwon Do indoor stadium that Greek authorities have transformed into a hospitality center for migrants. The minister visited the shelter on Saturday following an outbreak of violence and bickering between Moroccan migrants and other groups that forced police to intervene.

Police officers had to separate some migrants who were causing problems from the rest and a strong force remained on the scene for several hours.

“We came to this site, where several migrants have found shelter, as in Elliniko, to see how we can help the situation. (Alternate Minister for Migration Policy Yiannis) Mouzalas has the main responsibility, as minister for migration policy, but we also have an obligation to guard the area,” he said.

According to Toskas, all ministries were trying to join forces in tackling the huge problem that exceeds the limits of Greece and those of Europe. “Europe is called upon and the entire world is called upon to handle this on the basis of humanitarian, European values but also realism,” he said, underlining that Greece as a country and economy cannot accommodate the huge influx of people.

Asked about the letter that he sent to European Commission for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos, along with Mouzalas, Toskas said that this outlined the problems and pointed out that the EU and other European countries had to do their part with respect to returns.