Greece – Police on the Greek island of Lesbos began placing refugees on boats bound to Turkey, the first to be deported under a European Union plan to limit the amount of migration to Europe.
Under heavy security, the first 135 refugees were being escorted onto two small ferries as dawn broke Monday by officers from the EU border protection agency, Frontex, to nearby ports on the Turkish coast, under the plan which has been strongly criticized by human rights groups.
About 4,000 refugees have been detained on Greek islands since the agreement came into effect March 20.
On the nearby island of Chios, riot police clashed with local residents hours earlier during a protest against deportations planned there.
The operation was supervised by a lieutenant general of the Greek police, which gave no immediate details of the nationalities of refugees being deported.
The deportations were due to start with migrants who did not apply for asylum or had their applications declared inadmissible.
A total of 50,000 refugees are stranded in Greece following EU and Balkan border closures, but only those who arrived after March 20 will be detained for deportation.

Source: Associated Press, April 4