Europe's migration wave: Migrants fight on Greek island, soldiers build fence for Hungary
By The Associated Press, Aug. 11, 2015 | 12:14 p.m. EDT, Source
From Greece to Britain, waves of migrants are arriving on Europe's shores and borders this summer. More than 2,000 have died this year, and governments are struggling to absorb the new arrivals. Here is a look at developments across the continent Tuesday:
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GREECE: Overwhelmed police clerks have used fire extinguishers and batons to control hundreds of migrants jostling to be registered on the Greek island of Kos. Hundreds of protesting migrants demanding quick registration later blocked the main coastal road in the island's main town, staging a sit-in. Meanwhile, an attempt to relocate migrants from parks and squares to a stadium degenerated, with fights breaking out among some of the roughly 1,500 people gathered in a long, crowded queue. The migrants are among the hundreds of people who arrive on Greece's eastern Aegean islands daily from nearby Turkish shores, many after fleeing conflict in Syria and Afghanistan.
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SPAIN: Groups of migrants clashed with police in the popular Spanish seaside resort of Salou, angry over the death of a 50-year-old Senegalese man who jumped from a third-floor apartment balcony during a police raid. Police, targeting the sale of pirated DVDs and other products in the town near Barcelona, said they were not involved in his deadly fall. The death triggered protests by dozens of migrants who hurled rocks, bar chairs and tables at police. Police made several charges to disperse the crowd, and at least 12 people were arrested.
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HUNGARY: Hungarian soldiers building a controversial fence to keep out migrants crossing from Serbia got special relief from this week's heat: a ton of watermelons and other fruit donated by local farmers. The farmers near the southern village of Morahalom say their crops have been damaged by migrants trampling through their fields. The troops are laying down razor wire near the border where over 110,000 migrants have crossed this year. The Hungarian government wants to complete the 4-meter (13-foot) high, 175-kilometer (109-mile) long fence by Aug. 31.
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CZECH REPUBLIC: A factory in a Czech village has benefited from Europe's migrant crisis, thanks to a bonanza of orders from Germany for modular container-like buildings to house refugees and other destitute new arrivals. The village of Supikovice, tucked in the Jeseniky mountains near the Polish border, is far from the typical paths that migrants take through Europe. But the factory, part of Paris-based Touax Group, has felt their impact. It is struggling to meet demand from German city and state governments ordering the modular buildings. Relatively prosperous Germany is a popular destination for migrants.
