(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) More than 2,500 migrants on the island of Lesbos were repelled by police forces as they rushed towards a government-charted ship bound for Athens on Monday night. The Greek government and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) have brought in extra staff and ships to help handle the approximately 25,000 migrants who are facing difficult conditions on the island. A processing center has been established there and some 2,500 migrants from various Greek isles have managed to make it to Athens with the aid of government-ferries.
The UNHCR demanded that "exceptional measures" be taken to accelerate the granting of assistance to thousands of refugees stranded on the island.
Fresh clashes between government forces and migrants on the island were witnessed on Monday night with a Greek Minister stating that Lesbos was "on the verge of explosion".
As tension between the refugees and the Greek police grow, two extra riot squads already arrived on the island and 60 extra standard police forces are on the way.
According to the Telegraph, Lesbos is home to some 85,000 people and it is one of the Greek islands taking the brunt of a wave of refugees hoisting sail from the nearby Turkish coast en route to Western Europe.
Waiting for the Greek authorities to send them ferries destined for Athens, and from there to set out on a journey through the Balkans to Northern Europe, more than 20,000 refugees are living in and around the island's main port of Mytilini.
On Friday, attempts to the block the passage of refugees failed in Budapest. Thereafter, some 20,000 migrants set out from Hungary to Germany and Austria over the weekend. In addition, hundreds of migrants crossed Hungary's border with Serbia en route to Budapest. Before being sent to a reception center in the country, they were bombarded with tear gas.
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