PRIME Minister Alexis Tsipras admitted yesterday that Greece is no longer able to cope with the thousands of migrants arriving daily on its shores.
Tsipras spoke during a visit to Lesbos, the island which has received the bulk of arrivals and where aid groups condemned refugees’ living condition as dire.
Touring a packed migrant registration centre accompanied by the European Parliament’s President Martin Schulz, he said: “I think we are battling something which is beyond our abilities and everyone should understand that.”
The visit came as yet more boats carrying refugees sank off Lesbos and Kos. Coastguards were searching for the body of a six-year-old boy off the latter.
The body of another child had already been recovered. Hundreds of people were rescued.
Aid organisations estimate more than 601,000 refugees fleeing war and hardship in the Middle East have entered Europe through Greece this year. With at least 430 people having died trying to make the short sea crossing along the border with Turkey, Tsipras said it is “imperative” a deal is reached with Ankara to stem the flow.
About 15,000 refugees and migrants were effectively stranded on Lesbos yesterday due to a ferry strike. Tsipras said: “It’s an asphyxiating situation.”
International aid agency IRC, which has a unit on Lesbos, said conditions at one main centre were unacceptable. At Moria, an army camp converted into a refugee centre, Schulz and Tsipras got a taste of some of the frustration.
“We are here three days. We are hungry. I have two children, my children are sick,” one man shouted at Tsipras.
Tsipras patted his arm, saying: “We will do our best.”
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR launched a new funding appeal, saying it needs £63 million in additional support for Greece and affected Balkan countries.
0 comments:
Post a Comment