Greece shuts down controversial migrant center

The facilities were badly damaged by fire and for this reason we decided a provisional shutdown.

Greece has "provisionally" shut down a migrant holding centre on the Aegean island of Lesvos that was criticised by rights groups for deplorable living conditions, a local official said Tuesday.

Lesvos deputy prefect Stavros Psaropoulos said the Pagani centre will be closed after sustaining "heavy damage" during a migrant protest in late October.

- The facilities were badly damaged by fire and for this reason we decided a provisional shutdown - he told AFP.

No indication was given on whether the centre will reopen, but press reports said the facility might be permanently closed following recurring complaints from rights groups.

In August, migrants at the centre staged a hunger strike to highlight serious overpopulation concerns. At the time, 850 migrants including dozens of minors were housed at the facilities, over double the intended capacity.

The authorities subsequently transfered around 60 minors to other centres in the country and released a further 140 adults.

But a steady stream of new arrivals quickly pushed numbers up again.

A junior minister from the new socialist government that came to power in October inspected the centre last week, noting that the facilities were an "insult" to human dignity.

Most of the migrants have now been released while others were transferred to another centre on the neighbouring island of Chios.

The Greek Aegean islands are popular landing points for thousands of would-be migrants and asylum seekers who sail over from the neighbouring Turkish coast every year.