The situation in the no-mans-land between Turkey and Greece is becoming increasingly more violent and desperate for the refugees. Reporters on a tour heard gunshots despite the Greek government denying the use of anything except tear gas to stop the refugees.
For over an hour, the sound of people trying to direct each other in multiple languages through farms, woodlands, and across riverbanks was punctuated by shots. First it sounded like single rifle blasts, then came bursts of three, and then longer, heavier automatic fire.
However, when Papastathis appeared on Wednesday afternoon to direct us to the new location, he denied absolutely that we had heard what we heard.“Only tear gas is being fired,” he insisted to a group of a dozen journalists on the tracks.Turkey accused Greece of killing a Syrian man and wounding five other people. The next day footage of Greek soldiers apparently firing in the direction of migrants on the border surfaced online. And more signs of the Greeks using live fire on migrants and asylum seekers could be found at a makeshift camp for people waiting to cross the Evros River near the Turkish city of Edirne.
Greece is becoming more and more desperate to stop what has to be considered a Turkish-inspired invasion of its territory. And since the government has been ineffective, armed private citizens have taken matters into their own hands.
Greece migrant crisis: Refugee centre ablaze as tensions rise
Flames engulfed the One Happy Family centre, near the island's capital Mitilini, on Saturday.
It is not clear how the fire started. No causalities have been reported.
In recent days, there has been hostility towards migrants on Lesbos after an increase in arrivals from Turkey.
Hundreds of migrants have attempted to reach the island since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week he was "opening the doors" for refugees to enter Europe.
But on Saturday, Mr Erdogan partially reversed his position. He ordered the Turkish coastguard to stop migrants from crossing the Aegean Sea to Greece because it is unsafe to do so.
The EU has accused Mr Erdogan of using migrants for political purposes. It insists its doors are "closed".
Meanwhile, clashes have again erupted at the land border between Greece and Turkey.
There appears to have been no change in Turkey's position with regard to letting migrants try to enter Greece via this route.
On Saturday, Greek police fired tear gas at crowds at the border crossing at Kastanies, who responded by throwing stones and shouting "open the gates", according to the AFP news agency.
The Greek authorities also accused Turkish police of firing tear gas at its police.
The BBC has encountered members of self-styled militias who carry out night-time armed patrols in Greek border towns looking for migrants.
"There are such militia along the entire region," said Yannis Laskarakis, a newspaper publisher in the city of Alexandroupoli who has received death threats for speaking out against armed vigilantes.
"We have seen them with our own eyes, arresting migrants, treating them badly and if someone dares to help them, he has the same fate."
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