Lesvos refugee camp Governor resigns

The Governor of one of Greece’s most troublesome migrant and refugee centres, announced his resignation on Wednesday citing personal reasons.

Yannis Balbakakis, governor of the Moria Reception and Identification Centre for migrants and refugees on the island of Lesvos handed in his resignation to the Citizen Protection Ministry, citing amongst other things that the role had exhausted him.

“I leave with my head held high," Balbakakis told Greek news agency ANA "as I did what needed to be done in difficult conditions. I am leaving neither as a thief nor as a protesting politician. I'm leaving because I have to leave. I'm tired…” was Balbakakis' poignant final comment.

Balbakakis has been running the Moria facility for about three years and during his tenure helped create the so-called 'safe zones' for the protection of unaccompanied minors, women travelling alone and single-parent families with children.

He also contributed to connecting the Moria camp's sewage system with the Lesvos biological sewage treatment system, while his contribution to the compensation to owners of property in the areas surrounding Moria that were occupied by asylum seekers was also reportedly significant.