Serb testifies about fear she shares with Greeks: Lesbos on fire over migrants, houses broken into

A real uprising of migrants is shaking the Greek island of Lesbos, while images from this island show all the things Greece is facing as a transit country for many migrants arriving from the Middle East.

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However, it's the citizens, who are increasingly afraid, who suffer, and part of the inflammatory atmosphere on the eastern Greek island is described by a Serbian, who will soon begin living in Lesbos together with her fiancé.

After major protests last year, the tense situation continues, and day after day, incidents occur, she claims.

Riots yesterday; Photo: Private archive

"There are 20,000 migrants on the island of 80,000 inhabitants. Before the migrants showed up, no one needed security systems, people were safe. With the large number of migrants, horrible and unexpected things are occurring. Namely, two years ago they broke into my fiancé's house, fortunately the family was present, so the intrusion was prevented. Two weeks ago, my friend's house was also broken into," J.J. tells our portal.

The Greeks, she says, face problems because angry migrants, who want to continue their journey to Western Europe, are losing patience.

"People on that island are very friendly, full of empathy, there you would certainly not go hungry or thirsty if you asked for help. I don't know what causes such anger among migrants. We also have examples of the killing of livestock and pets of islanders. Orthodox churches in the village of Moria have been broken into and damaged, it's horrible to look at these scenes," our source said.

An abandoned house is set on fire; Photo: Private archive

The riots stared last year as Greece passed a new law allowing migrants to be returned to neighboring Turkey.

"The migrants demonstrated because of this, they started burning the village of Moria, people were panicked and scared, worried about their lives. A few months ago, they set fire to their own camp, they did not let firefighters help them and destroyed the fire truck afterwards," she says.

She claims that the real picture has not been presented in the media.

A fire on Lesbos; Photo: Private archive

"The media did not show the other side of the story to the world, nor did they publish photos of the fire trucks. Migrants built barricades that day to prevent firefighters from reaching the scene of the fire. Then they threw stones at them," our compatriot states.

There is no end in sight to the migrant crisis, and incidents, including conflicts with citizens, are taking place along the entire migrant route. Greece is particularly affected as a large number of these people seeking a better life flock to the islands, while the road to the western countries from there is difficult. "Stranded," they often cause incidents.

(M.B.)