Spyros Galinos

Lesvos Mayor Spyros Galinos on Friday welcomed the decision to grant islanders the inaugural John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service for their response to the refugee crisis, describing it as an "international recognition of [their] sacrifice, courage and genuine solidarity."

In the wake of reports on Thursday that a 9-year-old girl was assaulted on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos by four men who mistook her for a Muslim because she was wearing a head scarf, Mayor Spyros Galinos has asked a local prosecutor to investigate the claim and other similar instances of discrimination.

Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas on Wednesday stopped short of responding to demands from Lesvos Mayor Spyros Galinos for measures to relieve the pressure at the overcrowded migrant camp at Moria, admitting only that the situation is "very tough if not borderline."

Authorities on Lesvos, the main island gateway to the European Union for nearly a million refugees since 2015, have denied reports of plans to set up a new migrant camp, amid controversy over an alleged municipal campaign to deter groups of asylum seekers from visiting a popular beach.

Tensions on the Aegean island of Lesvos have peaked as 900 migrants who left the Moria reception center last week due to riots have sought refuge in local squares and parks and another camp near a seaside village. 

Local authorities have complained that new arrivals at Skala Sykamia have strained tensions with residents and store owners who are preparing for the peak tourist season. 

The mayor of the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos, which on Sunday night experienced some of the worst violence it has seen since the start of the refugee crisis in 2015, put the onus for the events that unfolded in downtown Mytilini squarely on the leftist-left government.

A livestock farmer on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos was released on Thursday pending trial on charges of illegal arms possession after opening fire on a group of migrants he claims were trying to steal his sheep on Wednesday.

Authorities on the island of Lesvos on Tuesday morning lifted a blockade against the delivery of 50 shipping container homes that are bound for the migrant reception and processing center of Moria.

Fresh tension broke out in the capital of Lesvos on Wednesday after a small group of Afghan asylum seekers attempted to set up camp on one of the island's public squares in demand that they be transferred to the Greek mainland.

Residents on the Greek island of Lesbos went on strike on Monday to protest against European policies they say have turned it into a "prison" for migrants and refugees, reported Reuters. 

Islanders shut businesses, shops, municipal offices, nurseries and pharmacies and dozens rallied on a central square, calling on the government to transfer asylum-seekers to the mainland.