LESBOS ISLAND, Greece: Several aid groups on Greece鈥檚 Lesbos said Tuesday they were suspending work with refugees and evacuating staff in the wake of violence by locals, amid fear and confusion on an island in the crosshairs of the migrant crisis.
While Greece鈥檚 land border with Turkey has seen the largest push of migrants heading for Europe in recent days, there has also been a surge in those attempting the short boat journey to Greece鈥檚 northern Aegean islands.
In an effort to curb the influx, which erupted after Ankara said last week it would no longer stop refugees from entering Europe, Athens has suspended asylum procedures and bolstered its borders.
On the islands, the new arrivals have exacerbated an already combustible climate.
Lesbos hosts more than 19,000 refugees and migrants crammed into squalid conditions around a camp built to house less than 3,000, a legacy of the 2015 migration crisis.
Fed up with shouldering the burden of Europe鈥檚 bloated asylum system, locals have protested against the presence of the migrants on their shores, saying they threaten safety, public health and a tourism-dependent economy.
That anger has spilled over into violence in recent days, with an extremist minority accused of leading attacks on newly-arrived migrants, intimidating media and targeting aid workers, according to several groups based on Lesbos.
鈥淥nce night falls, there are non-stop attacks on NGOs, on workers, on people who are here as volunteers,鈥� said Douglas Herman, co-founder of the organization Refocus, which teaches media skills to refugees.
鈥淢ost of those organizations right now have started to suspend their operations, some indefinitely. Many have advised their staff to leave the island, and many have heeded that call,鈥� he told AFP, adding that all six of his group鈥檚 current volunteers are departing.
The violence has been waged by 鈥渇ascist鈥� mobs, he said, describing roadblocks manned by thugs who have attacked or threatened people inside their cars.
The Dutch group Boat Refugee Foundation, which provides medical care in Lesbos鈥� Moria camp, said its staff and other aid workers were victims of such an assault by island residents on Sunday.
鈥淭heir cars were hit with steel pipes,鈥� a spokesperson told AFP, adding that the violence appears to be led by a 鈥渟mall group of right-wing extremists鈥� who want to prevent more refugees from coming.
The foundation鈥檚 medical clinic has called a pause until it is deemed safe enough to continue, she added.
On Monday night, the crew of the human rights observation ship Mare Liberum said it was also 鈥渁ttacked by a mob of fascists鈥� while docked on the island.
鈥淭hey shouted, threatened us (and) poured gasoline on our deck!鈥� the organization wrote on Twitter.
Police, who have been accused of a sluggish response, have opened an investigation after reports of several 鈥渁ttacks on people and cars鈥� on Lesbos, a police source told AFP.
A day earlier officers fired tear gas at refugees who protested their detainment at the overflowing Moria camp.
After the recent surge of some 1,720 migrants to the Aegean islands in four days, the numbers slowed Tuesday as strong winds roiled the sea.
But confusion prevailed on Lesbos, where some migrants were boarded into vans for transfer only to be returned later to the beach where they had been camping.
In the main city of Mytilini, police pushed back several hundred migrants who had gathered to reach the port because they heard a boat was leaving for the mainland.
Several dozen new arrivals were set to sleep there overnight.
Earlier, the island鈥檚 MP Haralambos Athanasiou told AFP that all new arrivals would be 鈥渟ystematically sent to the mainland鈥� and then back to their country.
In the meantime, not all aid groups are leaving.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 plan to move,鈥� said the medical coordinator of Medecins du Monde, Dimitris Patestos.
There is 鈥渇ear and insecurity鈥� among some staff but so far the group had not encountered issues with locals, he added.