A young Pakistani man threatened to hang himself on the Greek island of Lesbos today April 6 , as scores of people locked up in a detention centre continued protesting their deportation to Turkey, Aljazeera reports.
Chanting "freedom, freedom" the 18-year-old held at the overcrowded Moria registration centre, climbed a utility pole, forced himself into a makeshift noose made of a scarf and threatened to end his life before being convinced by his compatriots and police officers to come down, Greek media reported.
The threat came as more than 100 people from Pakistan and Bangladesh staged a sit-in at the closed camp, asking not to be sent back to Turkey as part of a deal the EU brokered with Ankara to stem the flow of refugees to Europe.
Under the controversial agreement, which has been fiercely criticised by rights groups, all "irregular migrants" arriving in Greece from Turkey since March 20 face being sent back across the Mediterranean.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Yiannis Chatzidakis, a psychiatrist with Klimaka, a suicide prevention NGO that runs a help-line in Greece, said the refugee crisis in the country was deteriorating.
"I am not surprised by the fact that people who are under such psychological pressure can commit such desperate acts," Chatzidakis said. "The situation is increasingly becoming worse ... so I don't find it strange that hopeless people with no home are willing to attempt to cut razor-wire fences or even commit acts - irregardless if they have mental health issues or not."
Source: Aljazeera
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