Migration spokesperson for the leftist SYRIZA led government Giorgos Kyristis said the country was bracing itself for riots by refugees ahead of the implementation of the agreement to deport illegal migrants back to Turkey. Speaking to British newspaper ‘Observer’, Kyritsis said: ‘We are expecting violence. People in despair tend to be violent. The whole philosophy of the deal is to deter human trafficking [into Europe] from the Turkish coast, but it is going to be difficult and we are trying to use a soft approach. These are people have fled war. They are not criminals’, he said. A day before the agreement is put into force it has emerged that the EU had only sent 200 officials to Greece to aid in the relocation operation from the 2,300 officials promised. On Saturday 800 refugees and immigrants escaped from a centre in Chios and ransacked the facility before marching on the island’s port. During the stampede three refugees were stabbed as riot police used tear gas to control the crowd.