Refugee Protest Camp on Lesbos Comes Under Attack

A group of refugees who have camped in a square in Mytilini, on the Greek island of Lesbos, for five days to demand better conditions at the Moria refugee camp came under attack on Sunday night, April 22.

Police were called to Mytilini’s Sappho Square after the violence erupted at about 8 pm local time, CNN Greece reported.

This video was captured by Mytilini resident Emmanuel Chatzichalkias. It shows the moment explosions were heard as fires burned near Sappho Square.

Greece’s stated-owned Athens-Macedonian News Agency reported refugees had marched on Mytilini on April 18 to protest over delays in processing asylum applications and false rumors that an Afghan refugee had died due to the conditions in the Moria camp. The makeshift camp is home to 5,500 refugees, close to double its 2,500 capacity, according a recent report from the New York Times. Credit: Emmanuel Chatzichalkias via Storyful