New unrest broke out last night at the closed migrant facility in Kleidi, in the Municipality of Sintiki, Serres.

It all began shortly after 10 p.m., when the illegal immigrants began throwing stones at police forces, shouting and protesting, while they managed to damage electrical installations and also bring down part of the fence in an attempt to escape from the facility.

According to Giannis Kounios, president of the Serres Police Officers’ Union, who spoke to protothema.gr, the police forces “managed to bring the situation under control using chemical agents.”

A 22-year-old Egyptian man was arrested as the alleged instigator of last night’s incident, while following a headcount of the migrants, it was confirmed that no one had managed to escape.

The situation at the closed migrant facility has been tense for quite some time, as migrants have been protesting the conditions there and are asking to leave the facility, since many of them have been there for more than a year.

It is no coincidence that during the previous uprising on Saturday, August 22, the incidents were serious, with around 40 people managing to escape from the facility, while 13 of them have still not been located by police. Serious incidents had also occurred at the facility last November.

“Following the previous serious uprising, 350 people are being housed in one wing because the others have been destroyed. There is overcrowding in a wing designed to accommodate 200 people, while there are currently 350 people there,” Mr. Kounios said, adding that the proposal of the Serres Police Officers’ Union is for the facility to cease operating, as its infrastructure has suffered significant damage.

“The police forces have been reinforced, but it is no longer possible to guard the migrants with police officers’ bodies, as the infrastructure has been destroyed,” Mr. Kounios said.

The situation at the facility is calm today, while a particularly large police presence remains there.

It should be noted that, immediately after the serious incidents on Saturday, August 22, Sintiki Mayor Giorgos Tatsios called for the closure of the facility. There is also a resolution by the municipal council calling for its closure.

Opposing the closure of the facility and, in fact, calling for it to be converted into an open-type facility, as it was in the past, the Metropolitan of Sidirokastro, Makarios, sent a letter to the Minister of Migration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris.