‘It’s a powder keg ready to explode’: In Greek village, tensions simmer between refugees and locals

After that day, the Drop Center was closed and staff moved elsewhere on the island. For the organization that ran the school, A Drop in the Ocean, it seemed their welcome had run out. Another NGO had rocks thrown through their windows. Later a group of local vigilantes went door-to-door looking for aid workers or refugees. “I understand that [the villagers] are tense. They live in an extreme situation. But it doesn’t excuse their behavior toward us,” said Ida Sorbye, a worker at the Drop Center.

If the Greek island of Lesvos is the frontline of Europe’s refugee crisis, Moria is a no-man’s land. The small village’s population of around 2,000 is now dwarfed by the camp of the same name up the road. As many as possible are crammed into the main facility, designed to hold only 2,800, with the rest spilling out in tents and hastily-built structures on the slopes of ancient olive groves. Numbers have exploded over the last year as new regulations require refugees to apply for asylum at their first landing place in Europe. For many that means Lesvos.

Turkey said on Thursday it would no longer restrain hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in its territory from reaching Europe despite a deal to do so reached with the EU in 2016. That means islanders are things to rapidly worsen. Thousands of refugees are now on the border of Northern Greece. The crisis poses the toughest test for Greece since a 2015 financial crisis.

The situation is worsening as crime escalates. There’s been at least two murders at the camp, and reports of daily fights and stabbings between refugees. Doctors Without Borders said that rape is also common inside the camp, as high as one rape reported a week.

The European refugee crisis is now five years old. More than 120,000 migrants and asylum seekers arrived clandestinely in 2019, according to the International Organization for Migration, with the vast majority crossing the Mediterranean Sea. That’s a big drop from the more than 1 million who arrived in 2015. Yet due to a backlog of cases and closed borders in the North, the Greek islands have never looked like this.

The local economy of Lesvos, largely dependent on tourism, has taken a hit. The home of archaic poetess Sappho, the island used to draw holidaymakers for its stunning blue waters, picture-postcard villages, sun-baked olive groves, medieval fortress and world-famous petrified forest. But tourism dropped by more than 50% in 2016 and, according to business owners on the island, hasn’t recovered by nearly enough. Cruise ships are coming less often — only eight arrived in 2019 compared to 94 in 2011. Tourists that do step onto the island see refugee children reselling bus tickets and a constant flow of those making the trek between camps and into towns.

It seems the open arms that initially had greeted those coming ashore in Lesvos have finally closed. Thousands of island locals attended a protest for Athens to process or remove the refugees. General strikes have been called. “It’s a powder keg ready to explode,” regional governor Kostas Moutzouris told local news regarding the situation.

Sadd

Nobody wants these backwards Third World dirtbags anywhere near them.

SEND THEM BACK!

R4 Like the Greeks are any better.

R4 - including Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. But they don't go there - no, they want to live in Europe.

I'm sorry it's such a mess over there, but why can't the Arab countries get this shit to stop? Why is it always Europe and US that have to take on the burden?

Yeah, well, R3, nobody wants them at home, either.

The sad fact is that this planet holds millions or billions of humans who are no use to anyone, even themselves. Nobody wants them anywhere, but they still have to be somewhere.

Sorry, I was speaking to R4.

R6 Fuck off. Nothing against the refugees but Greeks have by far been the most humane in their dealing with this situation over the years. For a country that has been under extreme financial stress. It's not something they need right now.

R6 : Are you headless?

r6 Greeks are lovely people. I lived in a heavily Greek neighborhood once and it was safe and friendly.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

[quote]I'm sorry it's such a mess over there, but why can't the Arab countries get this shit to stop? Why is it always Europe and US that have to take on the burden?

The Arab countries haven't done jack shit. It's somehow the responsibility of Western countries - whose people and values are diametrically opposed to theirs - to take on all of these useless baby factories.

It doesn't help that they have refugees stabbing each other from day one.

Muslim states must take in Muslim refugees as they do not respect or accept western values relegions or laws and are a time bomb of problems for the west.

Why are MEGA rich Muslim countries not taking in these people?

Muslim countries blame the US and Western Europe for all of their problems because they're not really allowed to criticize their own governments or the religious leaders.

It's always somebody else's fault. Their religiosity keeps them under the thumb of the government and economically behind. But you can't say that.

They don't have freedom of speech or thought - until they come to US and Western European countries, and then its all about what is wrong with our morals, culture, etc.

r18 they're also jealous AF over Western countries. They hate the wealth and prosperity that Western countries enjoy, because it goes against their teachings that Islam is perfect. They are INSANELY jealous over the West.

Maybe the Greece and others will finally see how disastrous the EU's policies regarding refugees has been.

I predict that millions more will come in this spring. Merkel started it. Erdogan made billions holding back the tide (EU payments) but he's in trouble with his adventure in Syria. He needs to get rid of the refugees so voters don't turn against him. He also thinks the EU will pay him even more to stop the flow.

Muslims in Europe is a timebomb thats waiting to explode.

Most of Europe is lost. Their white guilt did them in.

America is next.

Visit some of the large cities in the UK and see how well they integrate into British society,,,, NOT.

R21 Paris is Burning.

Erdogan uses the invaders as a bludgeon to silence EU criticism of his brutal regime. Either that, or he wants more bahksheesh, in addition to the billions of Euro the EU's already bribed him with.

Apparently, the EU has not been paying up hence him opening the floodgates.

To think the EU believed Turkey could be a member. Absurd.

Lesvos?

Nice rebranding, Greece.

Pack them all back up on boats and shove them off back home.

Visit Europe whilst you can as 20 years from now with the current birth rate it's going to be an Islamic State.

R25 Correct. Another evil dictator.

I hadn't thought about it before, but I wonder if coronavirus will make it to those refugee camps. I bet it'd wipe them out pretty quickly.

R33, just rub Chinese people on blankets and hand out the blankets to the refugees to keep them warm.

Yeah, R32, scaring away your healthcare workers just as a pandemic hits is such a great idea.

They all want to live in Europe but refuse to adopt and respect western values.

I lived in a Spanish town outside of Madrid that's crawling with Moroccans and witnessed first hand how they absolutely despise anything western, except smartphones and designer attire, of course.

R35 - and the schools, and welfare benefits, and jobs - although Spain's economy hasn't been doing well for years.

They despise the West and its culture and refuse to recognize any other religion other than Islam, yet scream Islamophobia at every opportunity. Crime in Europe has gone through the roof with drugs and grooming gangs running wild yet they look down on us and state we are not human beings as we don't follow Islam......the religion of peace?

I guess bombing the shit out of the middle East wasn't such a great idea after all.

R37 - well, yeah - when your religion tells you it's ok to lie to non-muslims and to use them for whatever purpose, that's what you get.

Also, speaking a word against Islam is heresy and punishable by death - so they can't criticize their own religion, so they have at everyone else's.

The whole religion of peace and charity shit is only for other Muslims. Yet the Middle East has always been a fucking mess and under war.

I honestly think, deep down inside, they know they've been had but they don't want to admit it.

I worked in Saudi Arabia for a while and saw this shit first hand. If a Saudi says he no longer believes in Islam he is immediately arrested and placed in a Mental Hospital where he will stay permanently unless he re accepts Islam. All Western governments know this and about all the other human right violations which occur daily in Islamic countries and say and do nothing.....the power of oil eh?

If it wasn't for their oil, the Western world wouldn't give the Middle East the time of day. It's all about the oil.

My uncle worked in the oil and gas industry for many years and traveled to various Middle Eastern countries. He said the whole region should just be turned into glass. His words to describe it were "depraved" and "subhuman." He's always been vigorously opposed to large-scale immigration from those countries to Western countries. He's said "if you really saw how they lived and behaved in their own countries, you would never want them to come here."

Islam is a murderous cult that can not be questioned or argued with under threats of death. Anyone who is not a Muslim is not human as far as they are concerned and deserves no compassion. The sooner the West wakes up and recognizes the danger we are all in by allowing this poison to continue under the guise of religion the better and safer it will be for us all.

I have looked at the map but for the life of me cant find Lesvos?

If you change to Lesbos, you’ll find it close to Turkey, R44. A Greek Island. Alternate spelling.

[quote] It's all about the oil.

It WAS about oil. Today it's about investment and ownership. For decades, Gulf and Southeast Asian Muslims have invested their oil wealth judiciously in Western universities, media, real estate, political parties and organisations and financial institutions. It may help to remember that Gulf Muslims have close to £75 TRILLION invested in the UK alone. It may help to realize that those same Gulf Muslims hold $166 BILLION of US debt.

^^^ remember, not realize^^^

r46 do you know of any good articles or have any book recommendations on that topic? (meaning gulf semi-ownership of Western institutions)

I'd like to read more about that.

R48 There are many articles in a variety of media about Gulf and Southeast Asian Muslim investments, e.g.,

Financial Times: Gulf states have learnt investment lessons

Financial Times: Universities challenged: scrutiny over Gulf money

CNN Business: Revealed: Saudi Arabia owns $117 billion of U.S. debt

The Guardian: Gulf petrodollars are a destructive addiction – the UK must kick the habit

The Conversation: The impact of Brexit on relations between the UK and Gulf countries

Arabian Business: Why UK should still appeal to Gulf investors despite Brexit doubts

The Telegraph: Charity's links to Qatar raised fears

Al-Arabiya: How Qatar is paying US institutions $1.3 billion to gain ‘dubious influence’

Draege & Lestra Monograph: Gulf-funding of British Universities and the Focus on Human Development

Similar articles about Gulf/Southeast Asian investment in the EU and Africa are also available.

No one wants a bunch of uncivilized people with a stone age mentality taking over their country

The only thing about trump that I like is he is against this shit. Bernie and a lot of Dems would accept these people

The way they treat animals is on par with the mainland Chinese.

Young, military-age men.

R46 - I think your numbers are off. There's no way it is 75 trillion pounds - maybe 7.5 trillion, but 75 trillion is larger than the entire European economy.

I get your point though. But why do they invest? It's simple - Western society and institutions have economies, institutions and innovations that will pay off. Secondarily, it does give them some leverage in traveling and also using those ideas in their own country.

They don't invest enough in their own societies (universities in particular) and do not share the wealth among their populace. They build some things, but these are not democracies by and large.

[quote] Why are MEGA rich Muslim countries not taking in these people?

Maybe because they LEARN from history, unlike the western leaders.

In the aftermath of the 6 Day War King Hussein of Jordan welcomed large numbers of "Palestinians" into his country. In just several years Arafat had built them into a force strong enough to try to conquer the nation. They tried to kill the King and he took the leash off his army, one of the best small military forces in the world. In just ONE MONTH the Jordanian Legion killed more Palestinians than Israel has in the nation's entire history. He would have finished Arafat once and for all but the US forced a ceasefire and evacuated Arafat and his fighters to Tripoli on US Navy ships.

They call it Black September.

Even with Arafat out of the country there were enough "refugees" remaining that Jordan now is a de facto Palestinian state.

[quote]Maybe because they LEARN from history, unlike the western leaders.

Eastern European countries are the same way. Hungary, Romania, etc. refuse to allow refugees in large numbers because they've had a long and bloody history with Islam and they know what the fuck is up.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Monday to keep the doors open for migrants heading for Europe, promising he will not hinder anyone heading for the border with Greece. He warned Europe that it will have prepare to shoulder its part of the migrant “burden.”

“After we opened the doors, there were multiple calls saying ‘close the doors’,” he said. “I told them ‘it’s done. It’s finished. The doors are now open. Now, you will have to take your share of the burden’.”

And God help us all.

Thank you very much, r49.

And, like clockwork, the NYT is there to whiteknight for the open borders brigade with "Look what you did: Now a child is dead because you racist Greeks won't hand your country over to Erdogan's minions"

Would the Muslim world take in hundreds of thousands of Christian refugees? I think we all know the answer to that question.

When you import the third world you take in all of the third world problems.

Nope r60. When Christian refugees - even ones who've been jailed for being Christian (essentially) come requesting asylum, Euro countries tell them that because there are so many muslims already in Europe, the Christian isn't welcome.

No joke. That's what happened only a few years ago in this case:

Sorry r60 - I misread your comment to refer to EU countries when you said Mislim countries. But the point still stands - Of course no Muslim country will help a Christian if even nominally Christian countries won't help Christian refugees.

Greece has the right to protect its border. From the Wall Street Journal.

Greek Soldiers Called In to Block Migrant Crossings at Turkish Border EU officials back Athens’ strict border control measures in test of bloc’s eastern borders

Greece rushed more soldiers and border guards to its eastern border in an attempt to hold back thousands of migrants after the Turkish government said it would no longer prevent refugees in Turkey from reaching Europe.

European Union officials rallied behind its toughened border controls, as the bloc sought to head off a replay of the 2015 wave of migration that spurred anti-immigration policies in many EU member states and helped stoke support for far-right parties.

At least one refugee, a Syrian man, died after being shot in the back, according to Turkish state news, during the melee playing out on the 120-mile frontier between the two countries. A child also drowned when a boat carrying 47 other people capsized off the Greek coast, the International Organization for Migration said.

Greek official border crossings were ringed with riot police who have fired tear gas and beaten back crowds of approaching migrants in recent days. Security forces were fanning out along the forested Evros river to intercept migrants trying to cross on rubber dinghies, said migrants pushed back to the Turkish side.

“Greece is increasing border security to maximum,” read text messages sent to every phone that approached the border. “Do not attempt to illegally cross the Greek borders.”

The chaotic scenes were the biggest test of the European Union’s eastern borders since it struck a 2016 agreement with Turkey to stop large-scale migration. Some four million refugees, mostly Syrians, living in Turkey have been prevented by Ankara from heading west under the terms of the deal.

Jesus, can't these people take the hint that Europe doesn't want them?

They know most Europeans doesn't want them, r66. They don't care. They are not there to be "let in" so much as to force their way in - there to invade, if you like - and then to bleed public money dry.

And they know the many SJWs ensconced in EU and US media, NGO's, and governments will have their back, so why should they turn back?

It is islamization through immigration. It's happening in the US too. I can't believe how the muslim population has grown in NYC in the past 10/15 years. A hijab was uncommon, now seeing brides of satan dressed all in black with face covered is not uncommon.

The thing I just can't wrap my head around is why they come to the West (understandably) claiming to seek "asylum" from the God-forsaken, apocalyptic hellholes they had the misfortune to be born in...

only to turn whatever host country that accepted them into perfect facsimiles of the God-forsaken, apocalyptic hellholes they sought to escape in the first place!

It doesn't make a lick of sense.

Same in Seattle R68

The Germans force the rest of Europe to share the burdens of their guilt. It's pathetic.

You are about to witness the collapse of the EU as far-right parties will be catapulted into European governments and massive anti-immigration policies and repatriation laws will be introduced in order to save the European culture.

R72 good, couldn't happen soon enough. And you get all the retarded woke idiot Progressives here in U.S. demanding we all lie down like cheap whores with our legs open and ready to be mercilessly fucked by illegal invaders. Yes, the open border cunts like AOC, Ilhan O, Bernie, Dizzy Lizzy et al demanding that CBP be dissolved.

90% of these migrants are young men and they are not coming to the West because they love us .. Believe me.

Word.

R75 And these idiots will soon know about defending Civil Liberties when they will be terrified of leaving the house alone and being forced to wear a Burka. Check out Civil Liberties under Islam......Guess what there aren't any!

[quote]The Greek island of Lesvos is a holding station

The name of the island is LESBOS, the Mohammedans protested being put on an island called that.

Send Muslim refugees to Muslim countries. Do not send Muslim refugees to the West as oil and water do not mix.

The West must help rebuild the middle east so these people can go home and live decent lives amongst their own people in their own culture and practice their own religion at home.

Muslims live in a world totally different from the West and follow a doctrine that clashes with all our accepted values. Bringing them into Europe benefits no one and only creates big problems for Muslims and Europeans. The question then needs to be asked is why the Arab nations are not taking in these people?

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Dubai, and many other oil-rich gulf states have huge areas of land which could accommodate refugees plus they have billions of petrodollars to provide homes and medical services to Muslim refugees. So why are they not taking them in?

lol, the threads like this always bring the worst of DL, but there is a bright side, you can tag the anonymous posters and read their other posts, and quickly "profile" them.

[quote]Secondarily, it does give them some leverage in traveling and also using those ideas in their own country.

The main purpose of investment in the West is to "normalize" as well as preclude and prevent any criticism of their brutal regimes. The economic bludgeon/gag was used to excellent effect when Canada's Trudeau dared to criticise the Saudi's human rights abuses. In less than a week, Saudi Arabia expelled its Canadian ambassador, froze all new investment, canceled all flights to Toronto, pulled thousands of students from Canadian institutions, barred its citizens from getting medical treatment in Canadian hospitals, and reportedly sold off all its Canadian assets.

[quote]So why are they not taking them in?

Because they are feudal, tribal societies where acceptance of a "foreign" tribe is non-existent, due to fears of social disharmony and of greater important, of challenge to the ruling clan.

Oh look, Special Agent Fox Mulder has shown up at R82.

All of you drive SUVs and eat meat. If you don't see the connection...

The United States is oil independent now, r85. We are now the only major country that no longer needs to dance to the middle eastern potentates' tune.

As for the meat, you'll have to explain the connection you're attempting to make there.

Also I like how r85 is posing as an FBI agent taking down our details - all because we believe that Greece should be allowed to defend their border.

^^^^^ That was r82 posing as the FBI agent (signed Quantico, Va) not r85

R72, sounds like a better deal, actually. Nobody is asking for uncivilized men to come to their country and suck up government benefits and worse.

This is Turkey pissing on Greece. They're still angry about Greeks getting independence and telling the Turks to fuck off. They have a LOT of history with each other, none of it good.

It's an invasion. The Greeks have every right to start shooting these fuckers.

They must be repatriated to other Muslim countiesand NOT the West.

Migrants attempting to storm Greek border because "I want another life"

...and Greece/the EU owes me one. And a free house. And welfare payments. And free healthcare to which I have not contributed... and free school for my kids, and on and on

The "I want another life" link referred to in r93

I’m so sick of hearing about refugees. Shouldn’t we be taking care of our own and preserving our resources.

Maybe NATO needs to be sent in.

NATO will help the ones attempting to storm the border, not those trying to preserve their homes from being taken over by the stormers, r96.

Greece needs to build a wall.

Greece HAS built a wall, r98. The ships are out there desperately trying to defend. The fucking Germans are the problem. As they always have been and - I'm sorry to say, and yet - always will be.

The EU is the enemy.

I feel sad for you, r8.

Germany/Merkel's open door to all comers policy simply exacerbated an EU migrant disaster that's been on-going for decades.

Merkel's 2015 "come all! That is, if you can pay your nearest human trafficker! (in cash, of course)'

Come ALL, to Greece!!

(to assuage German guilt....)

So who’s even remaining in these shithole countries? Reminds me of the song from WSS “... everyone there will have moved here...”

Where are the women and children?

Videos show nearly all military age men as the "migrants".

Turkish officials have said a man was fatally wounded when Greek security forces opened fire as migrants gathered at the border on Wednesday.

Greece immediately issued a flat denial, saying it was not involved in any such incident involving gunfire.

The local authority in the nearby town of Edirne then issued a statement saying one migrant had died in hospital and five had been wounded. It accused Greek police and border units of opening fire on migrants in no-man's land between the Greek border gate at Kastanies and the Turkish gate at Pazakule.

KASTANIES, Greece (AP) — Thousands of migrants and refugees searched for ways to cross Greece’s border with Turkey on Tuesday, as Athens ramped up its diplomatic efforts for help from the European Union to seal off its eastern land and sea frontiers.

Greek authorities said they had prevented 26,532 people from entering Greece between Saturday morning and Tuesday afternoon, and arrested 218.

So they leave the women and children in their shithole countries to be raped and go hungry. Nice.

I think Merkel will succeed where Hitler failed in destroying Europe. Then again, one could argue started the slow death of Europe by all the death and destruction. He had alliances and allegiances with the muslim world. The grand mufti of Jerusalem was one of the first non-muslim to be told of the final solution. There were plans to build death camps near Baghdad and Cairo. Several thousand Jews were gassed near Tripoli using German gas vans.

Here is one book on the subject but there are several.

Better link at Yale Press

Very interesting, r107 /r108. Thanks very much for the links.

So what was the goal in Merkel opening the borders, because getting a bunch of young, healthy, and CHEAP workers doesn't seem to be panning out. An alarmingly high percentage of migrants in Germany are still unemployed years later.

That's the million pound question, r110. And no one knows the true answer, because, as you rightly point out, the originally proffered answer of "more labour" was clearly false.

These young men don't want to work. They want to sit in cafes and watch soccer, read the Koran, eat, sleep and shit. That's it. They're only there for the benefits and Merkel was beyond stupid not to know that.

R71 The mistake was honestly in letting Germany re-unite in the first place. Margaret Thatcher was against it, but George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev were getting high on their own supply and thought they were elder statesmen for letting it happen. Germany has been nothing but a problem for Europe since.

[quote]They're only there for the benefits and Merkel was beyond stupid not to know that.

R112 Merkel doesn't care. She is a globalist.

Exactly, r114. She could not care less - she knows she has set the destruction of European countries in motion and she seems proud of it.

R109, another fun fact is the grand mufti of Jerusalem spent the war years in a Berlin. He was on the Nazis payroll then returned to Jerusalem.

Islamization through hijrah (immigration), taqquiya (lies), and jizya (payments, specifically protection payments).

The Classical World wasn't destroyed by the Visigoths, it was destroyed by islam. Available on PDF.

[quote] That's the million pound question

That's funny. I never heard the British version of that saying before.

I've often wondered what would've happened to the classical civilizations in the Mediterranean if Islam had never happened. How would they have evolved? That's a question for the ages.

When you import the third world you also get all of the third world problems. 90% of these migrants are male and bring a host of fundamental issues with them. Muslim migrants should be settled in Muslim countries not settled into the West, as evidence proves they do not integrate and are a danger to the host population.

It's not necessarily Muslims themselves that don't integrate, it's that a lot of them come from a lower social class. Europe mostly adopted the lower class Muslims while USA and Canada got the ones who are higher class. Ever wonder why Muslim countries don't want them back? They are their lower class.

Women are afraid to walk the streets of many German Citys and the rise of the Far-Right is a terrifying prospect. Thank you, Mrs. Merkel, for destabilizing Europe and creating a future disaster for your own people.

I'm American and we have plenty of low class Muslims here trust me.