Greece opens two more holding centres for migrants on islands

FILE PHOTO: A private security employee stands guard during the inauguration of a closed-type migrant camp on the island of Samos, Greece, September 18, 2021. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece on Saturday inaugurated two more migrant holding centres on islands near Turkey as part of a tougher policy for managing migrant flows that has been critised by rights groups.

The conservative government first announced in 2019 it would shut the five camps set up on Greek islands during the height of Europe's migration crisis, when hundreds of thousands of people, mainly Syrian refugees, arrived from Turkey on rubber boats.