A post on X in response to the riot that occurred on Wednesday afternoon at the illegal immigration facility in Serres was made on Thursday morning by the Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris, stressing that the reaction was the result of the new law for those who are not refugees, which provides for “rapid asylum examination, rejection, deportation and until then detention status.”

“This is their everyday life and now that they are aware of it they are reacting,” Plevris added.

He notes, in fact, that “committing criminal offences within the structures only aggravates their position and speeds up the deportation process” to conclude with the message “no tolerance for illegal immigration“.

30 arrests, two police officers injured

The riots at the illegal immigration facility in Klidi Sintiki, Serres broke out at noon on Wednesday (12/11) when 235 migrants knocked down part of the fence and set clothes on fire. According to reports, the illegal immigrants who knocked down the fence were repelled inside by police officers and set fire to clothes in the yard of the structure which did not expand.

Officers made 30 arrests for the riot, mostly of migrants from Bangladesh and Egypt. It is noted that 3 of the 30 arrested were also charged with attempted escape, as they attempted to flee during the riots.

During the riot, one policeman was injured by a stone and one by a bite during the clashes.

A case is being filed and it is expected that the security cameras will be checked to identify those involved in the riots.

It is noted that illegal immigrants who come to Greece via Libya are staying in the structure. The majority of them are Egyptians, while there are people from Pakistan and Bangladesh.