A shepherd on the Greek island of Lesbos says in a video that he is shocked that his sheep have been stolen and slaughtered by illegal immigrants.
Shepherd Fotis Giounis lives near a large migrant reception camp in Kara Tepe, which currently has more than 7,000 so-called “refugees”. Giounis says migrant forces have attacked his property in recent days, reserving the animals and slaughtering them in the terrain, after which the thieves have taken the meat to camp. The man’s shepherd dog found carcasses of goats and sheep.
“I wonder if they [the authorities] see people with big bags of meat – over 100 pounds – and they don’t stop them? Aren’t they looking for where the meat comes from? I’m desperate,” Giounis told StoNisille. “I am horrified that armed groups are wandering here in the mountains looking for our farms – and apparently they are familiar with the use of knives.”
Giounis is confused because raising animals can take years, and his family’s livelihood depends heavily on raising them. Ten of his lambs are now orphans.
The shepherd says he now has to spend his days in the terrain guarding the animals while the immigrants are staying inside the expensive tents.
Immigrants have already destroyed the Lesbos ecosystem and deprived the area of abundant natural resources, often at a high economic cost to the island’s inhabitants.
Last year, for example, illegal immigrants felled about 5,000 valuable olive trees for firewood and building needs. The felling of beloved trees was a direct attack on the island’s landscape, culture and economy. Olive oil produced by slow-growing trees is one of Greece’s main exports.
Forsided, 26.02.2021