'Anti-migrants protesters staged demonstrations in Turkey and Greece against the plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey is set to be implemented starting Monday.
At the same time, migrants stranded at a makeshift camp in this small town on Greece's border with Macedonia staged a protest demanding that the border be opened and that they be allowed to continue their journeys to central and northern Europe.
Several dozen people living in the Idomeni camp staged a protest today morning, blocking a local road for about an hour to demand the evacuation of more than 11,000 stranded migrants to "transit centers" across the Greek mainland.
"The police know what they must do...They must be issued orders," said Georgios Georgantas, a lawmaker with the conservative opposition New Democracy party, who joined the protesters. He called for the "immediate" evacuation of the Idomeni camp "using violence, if necessary."
Idomeni inhabitants alleged that some migrants had broken into empty homes in the town and said they no longer felt safe.
In the coastal Turkish town of Dikili, hundreds demonstrated against the prospect of hosting people expelled from the nearby Greek islands, especially Chios and Lesbos, where there were over 5,000 migrants today morning.
Turkey is due to receive the first batch of returned migrants and asylum seekers on Monday. A plan to build a reception center in Dikili is unpopular with locals.
"We definitely don't want a refugee camp in Dikili," said the town's mayor, Mustafa Tosun.
Demonstrators expressed concern over the impact the EU deal could have on the economy, tourism and security in their town.
The EU-Turkey deal stipulates that those who reach the shores of Greece unlawfully will be returned to Turkey unless they qualify for asylum. The deal aims to break the lucrative smuggling operations now in Turkey.
In Idomeni, more than 200 refugees and migrants staged a protest on a highway linking Greece and Macedonia, demanding that Macedonia open its borders. The protesters blocked trucks from crossing into Macedonia, but not passenger vehicles. In a counter-protest, the truckers blocked the road to other vehicles as well.
