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PATRAS, Greece?Bulldozers escorted by riot police on Sunday leveled a camp at the Greek port of Patras where hundreds of migrants had lived in growing tension with city residents, an AFP photographer said.
Around 100 police took part in the early morning operation in the camp occupied by mainly Afghan migrants that left standing only the migrants' makeshift mosque and a tent used by volunteer doctors.
The camp was mostly empty as many migrants had apparently been forewarned, but police took away around 100 people including some 30 minors who were boarded on buses and taken to a local hotel according to officials.
A large number of clandestine immigrants mostly aged between 15 and 25 lived at the makeshift camp near the port for months at a time without proper water or hygiene facilities, hoping to sneak onto ferries bound for Italy.
Many were injured in the process or in alleged attacks by police, sparking protests from migrants and left-wing groups.
Clashes also broke out between rival groups of Afghan and Somali migrants, leading to growing tension with Patras residents who have long called on the local authorities and the government to act.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and several non-governmental organizations described the situation as an "emergency" and called on Greece to improve its procedures for claiming asylum and upgrade immigrant reception centers.
