Vigilants along the Greek border with Turkey no longer say anything to migrants

For the Greeks, the frustration is palpable and the situation is different from that of five years ago. This time around, Turkey, which is home to more than 3 million Syrian refugees, has opened the doors for thousands of migrants to enter Greece as it tries to put pressure on Europe to get help in the conflict in Syria.

Unlike 2015, this crisis seems much less spontaneous than manufactured, and many Greeks do not want it. The Greek government responded with repression, closing the borders, deploying the army and burying rhetoric of war against Turkey, which it accuses of having orchestrated an invasion.

As it stands, for the Greeks, the migrant crisis of five years ago is not yet over. The problems with which he attacked the country persisted and ravaged almost every drop of generosity of a people who prided themselves on their compassion.

Five years of solidarity, she added. We can no longer bear it. We want our lives to come back.

She and other residents gathered around a small fire at the side of the road, forming an impromptu roadblock aimed at preventing migrants from crossing the village.

Others in Lesbos were violent. Groups of locals beat a German photojournalist and a correspondent, and attacked the local head of the United Nations refugee agency.

Aid workers with non-governmental organizations have been chased from the island, assaulted and harassed until many organizations decided to evacuate staff and volunteers concerned for their safety.

Similar scenes took place along the 120-mile northern border of Greece with Turkey. Although they are heavily guarded by the military, ordinary Greeks felt compelled to participate.

Some of the more violent groups appeared to have been mobilized by known far-right extremists, but it was evident that the movement against migrants enjoyed wider social support in border regions.

The furious farmers lined up their tractors, each adorned with a small Greek flag, and declared that they were ready to fight to protect the country.

For the most part, it was a matter of national pride and a duty to guard the borders of the Greeks against Turkey, a former enemy. Some even belonged to a National Guard of trained civilians, who hold state-issued weapons and can be mobilized in the event of a national emergency.

The Greek army did not mobilize the national guard. But it has put the borders on alert, with hundreds of additional soldiers patrolling and repelling migrants and leaving the vast green delta of the Evros River, part of the northern border, feeling like on foot of war.

Archbishop Ieronymos, head of the Greek Orthodox Church, went there to bless the soldiers who were patrolling the border. Villagers brought bags of croissants and bottles of water to the border guards.

We came to deliver food and drink to our boys, said one of them, Anna Fotidou. But even she feared that things would go too far.

There are people of extreme conviction here, she said. I don't think they should take matters into their own hands.

One man, Athanasios Kamilaris, broadcast a self-defense patrol live while he and others, dressed in trusses, were looking for migrants.

I arrested two Turkish smugglers, he said in a Facebook message.

Another message showed a video of him arresting a group of migrants, one holding a child and another a baby wrapped in a blanket, trying to cross the river in Greece.

Mr. Kamilaris, who claimed to be the National Guard and posted pictures of himself with a rifle, did not respond to several requests for comment.

Greece and Turkey are both members of NATO, but even in the best of cases, they are tense neighbors. They share a centuries-old history of bloodshed and conflict: the modern Greek Republic was once ruled by the Ottoman Empire.

Next year marks the second centenary of the Greeks' War of Independence, a landmark event in the history of the country taught in schools and homes for generations.

In the current impasse, this story has fueled the vigilance of ordinary Greeks.

The border scuffles were violent. Migrants and local Turkish officials said at least two people were shot dead on March 2 by Greek security forces, who also used tear gas while trying to repel the migrants in Turkey.

Turkish Interior Minister this week encouraged migrants to cross anywhere along the border, not necessarily at authorized points, and said Turkey would deploy 1,000 special forces police with Zodiac boats to prevent back-ups.

Greece has called the allegations of murder and violent setbacks false news.

Turkey has become an official smuggler of migrants to the European Union, and Greece does not accept this situation, said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The problem is an asymmetric threat and an illegal invasion of thousands of people who threaten our territory, said Mr. Mitsotakis.

However, only a few thousand migrants at most have managed to enter Greece from Turkey since last Thursday, a relatively high number, but not extraordinary.

In comparison, the United Nations refugee agency said more than 7,500 had arrived in December of last year.

The Turkish threats nevertheless aroused a feeling of panic among ordinary Greeks, reinforced by the wall-to-wall coverage of events on Greek national networks.

Residents of Lesbos said they believe international aid workers coordinate with smugglers and facilitate the movement of migrants to the island, but there was no evidence of any such collusion.

No new dinghy arrived on Wednesday. At least eight Navy and Coast Guard vessels patrolled the coastline on the islands to the north, and strong winds blew, making the six-mile stretch of water choppy with waves.

Since we got rid of the NGOs, no new migrants have arrived, said a man at the roadblock in the village of Moria. Is it a coincidence? No. It was done, it was done, I regained control.