Migrants clash with police and cut through a fence at a Greek detention center
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- Dozens of migrants at a detention center in northern Greece near the Bulgarian border clashed with police, cut through a fence and escaped, leaving five injured and hospitalized.
- Authorities say 35 migrants broke out of the Sintiki facility, which holds about 450 asylum seekers; roughly half were quickly recaptured.
- The unrest comes as Greece’s conservative government hardens migration policies in a country that has become a key gateway for asylum seekers heading into Europe.
ATHENS — Migrants clashed with police at a detention center in northern Greece and cut through a perimeter fence, with 35 escaping before authorities recaptured about half of them, officials said Sunday.
Greece is a key entry point for migrants into Europe, and migration is a hot-button issue in the country. Greece’s conservative government has been toughening its migration policies.
Police reinforcements were called late Saturday to the temporary accommodation center for asylum seekers in Sintiki, a few miles from the Bulgarian border, after migrants threw rocks at guards, according to police.
The facility houses around 450 people who are placed there while their asylum applications are processed, which can be a protracted procedure.
Police special forces responded with flash grenades during the clashes, which officials said lasted until the early hours of Sunday.
Police said they arrested 17 of the migrants who had escaped, while searches continued for around 18 others. An additional five migrants were injured and taken to the hospital.
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