Seven migrants were killed and eight others badly injured after the car they were travelling in struck a toll-booth during a police chase on a main road outside Athens, Greek police said on Friday.
According to local media accounts, the driver, a Moldovan national, attempted to leave the highway to evade pursuing police and lost control of the very overcrowded Citroen car. It is not yet clear what prompted the initial attempt to stop the vehicle but Greece is a major thoroughfare for migrant trafficking rings by both land and sea. The driver is reportedly in hospital awaiting police questioning. Police have not released any additional information about the victims.
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Greek police last month came under criticism for shooting two joyriding Roma teenagers, killing one, which sparked a series of local demonstrations protesting heavy handed policing of Roma people, a minority group that often faces abuse, discrimination, and inability to gain identity documents or proper citizenship.
One Afghan refugee living in Athens who asked not to be named because he’s in the country illegally said that the land route over the border from Turkey – often via the much less guarded Bulgarian border – costs about €1,500 euros (about £1,250) for the trip itself and is considered relatively safe compared to the very risky crossing by boat from Turkey to Greek islands.
“The police are paid so nobody gets arrested,” said the refugee, who earlier this year paid for his younger brother to cross. “And they drive you to Athens or a city. The water and boat is very dangerous and when you [arrive] they put you in a camp. The land route you are free to try and work.”
Thousands of people have died in the Mediterranean and Aegean Sea since 2015 as refugees from the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia have fled deteriorating economic and security conditions at home.
The Greek government has taken a tough line on the refugee crisis with the support of the rest of the EU, arresting NGO workers for aiding refugees, harassing journalists who report on the Greek Coast Guard’s pushbacks of migrant boats to Turkish waters and monitoring the phones and email of both journalists and activists.
