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"It is not possible for 60 employees to handle thousands of migrants in places where there is no opportunity to exercise state power, since these places are not regularized as reception centres. Is there a written decision to turn the taekwondo and field hockey halls into reception centres? Everything is happening on the basis of oral orders, but if something happens, who will be responsible?" This is how the representative of workers at the first reception service explains the atmosphere and the reasons why they have decided to send a letter to the service director and Minister of Interior Panagiotis Kouroublis as well as to Deputy Minister for Migration Policy Yiannis Mouzalas and other politicians.

"It is unlawful to issue personal administrative decisions to send employees to various locations in Attica, defined as places for temporary reception of refugees and migrants," reads the letter. The officials stress that the places in the Olympic complex and in Faliro, to where migrants are taken from Idomeni or Victoria Square "are not defined as places for temporary accommodation with the relevant ministerial decision or other order published in the "Official Gazette". No provision in the legislation on civil services with civil servants, i.e., determining the places of work, operating rules, responsibilities and competences of the service as well as the securing of hygiene conditions for employees and temporary residents is in force."

The employees talk about night working hours in places that are dangerous to work during weekends and stress that they will not refuse to meet their obligations, but want to know what they are. The same applies to the staff of mobile teams of the service on the island of Lesbos and in the Evros region who do not have the working hours of civil servants. The letter also notes that there is evidence of violations of the law and asks who will assume administrative responsibility if there are cases of violence.

To recall that only two days ago there was a clash with knives between migrants accommodated in the Taekwondo hall, the result of which were three slightly injured. Simultaneously, many cases of violence and fighting have been registered in Idomeni on the Greek-Macedonian border.
 
Yesterday Deputy Ministers for Migration Policy Yiannis Mouzalas and for Citizen Protection Nikos Toskas had sent another letter to EU Commissioner for Migration Policy and Internal Affairs Dimitris Avramopoulos. In it, they call for the Commission's proposals that will be submitted to the Council of EU ministers next week to comply with the existing European agreements. In particular, it mentions the free movement of citizens within the Schengen Agreement, which shall not be questioned. "There must be a balance between security and freedom of movement," notes the letter.

At least 2,000 people arrived on Lesbos yesterday alone. In parallel, small groups of migrants are gathering in Victoria Square, including many Africans who have appeared in recent days.