UNHCR urges urgent Greek action on migrant crisis
The UN refugee agency has warned of the worsening refugee crisis in Greece, calling for urgent efforts to address a major surge in the migrant influx into the EU nation, where they face inadequate medical facilities and accommodation that offers no water or food.
“Such a level of suffering should and can be avoided. The Greek authorities need to urgently designate a single body to coordinate response and set up an adequate humanitarian assistance mechanism,” said Vincent Cochetel, who directs the Europe bureau of the UN High commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in a Friday statement after his recent tour of Greece.
According to Cochetel, 124,000 refugees fleeing conflict zones have arrived by sea mostly in the Greek islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos from Turkey since January 2015, marking a 750-percent surge in the number of migrants coming to the country compared to the previous year.
While underlining the lack of reception facilities on the islands, the UN official emphasized that the existing conditions of the infrastructure are worse than those found in many less-developed countries.
“I've been working 30 years with UNHCR, I’ve visited many African and Asian countries and I’ve never seen such a situation,” Cochetel noted in the statement as cited by Xinhua, adding that “this is the European Union and this is totally shameful.”
“Greece and Europe need to lead the response to this crisis, which can be resolved only through more solidarity within and outside the EU and increased alternative means to reach Europe for refugees fleeing from violence,” Cochetel further emphasized.
This is while Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (pictured above) has stated that Greece is overwhelmed by the persisting migration challenge and called for the EU to do more to help.
“Greece is a country in economic crisis, and it faces a major humanitarian crisis within a crisis. These dimensions exceed our country’s capabilities, they are European dimensions,” Tsipras said, as cited in wire reports.
Meanwhile, latest UNHCR figures indicate that over 225,000 people have attempted the journey to European shores across the Mediterranean so far this year, with at least 2,100 dying on the way.
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