Migrant unrest rising in Greece

(Vatican Radio) The initial sympathy with which the Greeks viewed the migrants is evaporating fast, as citizens’ groups near Idomeni at the Greece-Macedonia border claim migrants have broken into their homes and could be carrying disease.

Listen to John Carr's report:

Their complaints are putting pressure on the Greek government to relocate the 13,000 migrants amassed in tents on the border, by force if necessary.  Some migrants, in desperation, are blocking the rail line at Idomeni, demanding that the Macedonian border reopen.  While such a development is highly unlikely, the line closure has crippled local businesses.

Unrest is mounting at the port of Piraeus where 5,000 migrants stubbornly resist being bused to more comfortable holding camps.  The camp on the island of Chios is overflowing, with its occupants demanding to be allowed to travel to mainland Greece.  That camp and others are swelled by new arrivals daily, as the recent EU-Turkey migrant restriction deal proves unenforceable.

The government here in Athens claims the migrant tents at Piraeus will be cleared by the end of this month.  How it will be done is not clear.  But officials fear that with Orthodox Easter a month away, the sight of the amassed migrants might upset those people who want to travel to the islands for the holiday.