Heard the backlash from his sexist comments were just an excuse for Chris Matthew's sudden retirement.
He decided to retire because he was heartbroken. Finally found out Rachel Maddow is a guy, Richard.
First Michael and now Richard, poor Chris can't win with the ladies.
Greece Blames Turkey For Migrant Crisis, Greek Locals Oppose Detention Camps
Greece Grapples With New Migration Crisis
(VOA news Mar 2 2020)
https://www.voanews.com/europe/greece-grapples-new-migration-crisis
ATHENS - Authorities in Greece are facing the biggest mass migration push in years and the government in Athens is laying blame with Turkey.
Greece is beefing up its defenses along its land and sea borders with its neighbor; but, the heightened controls are starting to take a deadly toll.
On Monday, Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas openly accused Turkey of engineering an organized invasion after Ankara opened its border to allow migrants to pass through to the West.
Petsas said Greece is being targeted with an illegal attempt to violate its borders and will repel any such efforts.
Authorities have already beefed up border controls and repeatedly tear-gassed asylum-seekers trying to enter Greece.
And on the high seas, the Greek Coast Guard has been pushing back scores of rubber rafts packed with migrants.
Turkish authorities have suggested those maneuvers may have caused the drowning of a young Syrian boy Monday. Greek officials said the child died after the boat in which he was traveling capsized off the island of Lesbos. Authorities tell the Reuters news agency the boat had been escorted to Lesbos by a Turkish vessel.
Lesbos residents, meanwhile, staged protests, calling on police to block migrants from setting foot on the island.
The residents say they are still reeling from an earlier migration crisis, and after seeing their economies shattered and tourism related-business fall by 60% … they want the 25,000 remaining refugees to leave.
The island’s mayor explains. Stratos Kytelis said the government in Athens needs to "heed our demands and safeguard our interests also."
He said if that does not happen, the people of Lesbos will take the situation into their own hands.
Nearly 60,000 migrants and refugees illegally crossed to the Greek islands from Turkey last year, roughly double the rate recorded in 2017 and 2018, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has in the past warned Europe to share the refugee burden or face a new wave of migrants, as Turkey fears a new influx of Syrian refugees fleeing war. Turkey is hosting more than 3.5 million Syrians.
(notice in the pics lots of able-bodied young men, not the women and small children the US media claims) Also two related articles on the Greek migrant crisis.
Greece Scraps Asylum Requests for Migrant 'Troublemakers'
(VOA news Feb 21 2020)
https://www.voanews.com/europe/greece-scraps-asylum-requests-migrant-troublemakers
ATHENS - Greece says it will deport "migrant troublemakers" to their homelands in a bid to combat rising crime and surging migration inflows that have reached a breaking point for the refugee-swollen country. (continues at link)
Amid Protests, Greece Suspends Migrants Detention Plan
(VOA news Feb 17 2020)
https://www.voanews.com/europe/amid-protests-greece-suspends-migrants-detention-plan
ATHENS - Greece's government says it is suspending an emergency plan to build migrant detention camps on Greek islands near the Turkish coast to allow for negotiations with local authorities who strongly oppose the move.
Notis Mitarakis, the migration affairs minister, said Monday the plan announced last week has been put on hold until demands by authorities on the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos are discussed.
The government says it wants to replace existing overcrowded camps with closed facilities and has already issued land appropriation orders. But islanders staged protests against the proposed construction, setting up roadblocks on Lesbos, amid fears that the new sites would place an additional burden on their small communities.
Under a 2016 agreement between the European Union and Turkey, Lesbos and the four other islands have been used as natural barriers for migrants and refugees trying to reach the mainland of EU member Greece. That has resulted in serious overcrowding at the existing island camps and living conditions for migrants that U.N. officials have called horrific.
(can’t resist adding this Greek story from Feb 4)
Greece, a country that is mostly coastline and many islands – Wants To Build A Wall!
Greece Draws UN, EU Rebuke for Migrant Sea Barrier
(VOA news Feb 4, 2020)
https://www.voanews.com/europe/greece-draws-un-eu-rebuke-migrant-sea-barrier
LONDON - Greece plans to build a floating barrier off its Aegean coastline to deter migrants from Turkey, amid a surge in arrivals in recent months. The plan has drawn strong condemnation from human rights groups.
Almost 60,000 migrants arrived by sea onto Greek shores from Turkey in 2019, nearly twice the number that arrived the previous year. Last week the government advertised an offer for the construction of a net barrier in the sea off the island of Lesbos, which lies just a few kilometers from Turkey.
At 2.75 kilometers long, the barrier would rise above the surface of the water and have flashing lights to warn would-be migrant boats. The estimated cost is more than $550,000.
“This plan could put lives at risk,” says Massimo Moratti of human rights group Amnesty International. “Building a barrier, a floating wall in the sea can make it more difficult even for the rescuers to go and rescue these boats and cause problems with the people landing.”
The Greek government argues the sea barrier would act as a deterrent to people smugglers and would be safety-tested before installation.
The surge in arrivals since August is putting huge pressure on the Greek islands. Moria camp on Lesbos Island was built for 3,000 migrants but is holding more than 19,000 people. Amnesty says conditions in the camp are overcrowded and unsafe.
Both migrants and Greek residents of the island have staged protests in recent days demanding that the camps be closed and the migrants moved off the island. “
We stand by them in whichever way we can,” said protester and Lesbos resident Zoi Giannaka, “but we want these people to leave, not because they bother us or because we don’t love them, but because they live in a way that is inhumane.”
Over 60 migrants died attempting the sea crossing from Turkey to Greece last year alone. The United Nations and the European Union have warned Greece to abide by international law.
“Every state, including Greece, has a legitimate right to manage their borders, but those that are coming across the sea with the intention of seeking asylum, safety, they have a fundamental right to do so,” said Boris Cheshirkov, a spokesperson for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Greece.
The number of arrivals in Greece in still far below its peak in 2015 when 885,000 migrants arrived on its shores, many fleeing the war in Syria.
Yes, saw that on VOAT and looking into my foreign news posts.
Sounds like the citizens of Greece are waking up.
The UN still cries migrants have a right of passage.
BBC News video Greek Coast Guard Fires on Migrant Boat
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-51715422/greek-coast-guards-fire-into-sea-near-migrant-boat?intlink_from_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Fmiddle_east&link_location=live-reporting-map
Greek coast guards fire into sea near migrant boat
Footage has emerged of Greek coast guards firing into the sea near a migrant dingy, and shoving it around, as they attempted to force it back towards Turkey.
Migrants on another dinghy were met with shouts of "go away" by angry residents of the island of Lesbos.
Where We Go Greece, We Go All!
SkyNews video
Greek coastguard filmed stopping migrants coming ashore Mar 2 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8BdEHtBWp4
F*U BBC and non readable embed and SkyNews is better quality]