A popular beach on the Greek island of Lesvos is refusing entry to bathers without a valid Schengen-area passport, in an apparent effort to bar migrants.
Local site lesvosnews.net published photos from the Tsamakia organized beach, near Mytilene, showing a notice placed at the entrance of the beach requesting a passport for all non-Schengen visitors.
The notice is in English, French and Arabic.
The move is apparently aimed at the thousands of migrants from Syria, Iraq and elsewhere who are trapped in Lesvos waiting for the Greek authorities to examine their asylum applications.
Twenty-six European countries belong to the Schengen agreement which allows its citizens free movement in and out of the area.
However, among those excluded by the Lesvos notice would be U.K. and Irish citizens who may have travelled to Greece on another identity document — both countries have opted out of the Schengen zone.
Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Cyprus are also outside Schengen.
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