Officials on the Greek island of Lesvos have moved to deny reports of a new camp to help house thousands of migrants and refugees stuck on the Aegean island.
Lesvos Mayor Spyros Galinos spoke to Greek newspaper Kathimerini, saying plans to transform an island factory into a new camp were untrue and denounced claims made by “extreme elements [and] irresponsible people”.
Galinos also said a policy of asking non-Schengen nationals to show their passports in order to use a municipal beach had stopped.
The move sparked controversy in June when it was reported that the Tsamakia organized beach, near Mytilene, was displaying a multi-lingual notice at the entrance of the beach requesting a passport for all non-Schengen visitors.
The move was 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 traveled to Greece on another identity document — both countries have opted out of the Schengen zone.
Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Cyprus are also outside Schengen.
Galinos told Kathimerini on Saturday: “We were told that this measure is illegal, so we stopped it.”
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