x

Society

Greek Island Refugee, Migrant Centers Can’t Cope With More Arrivals

July 19, 2018

With hundreds more refugees and migrants landing on Greek islands every week during the good weather summer months, officials running detention centers are finding it difficult to handle the growing numbers.

There are more than 15,000 being housed in the camps, mostly on the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Kos and Leros, near the coast of Turkey, whose government is letting human traffickers continue to operate during a suspended swap deal with the European Union.

Some 1,146 more people arrived on those islands over the previous two weeks with no signs of a let-up of the gradual build-up as tension has risen and violence sporadically broken out over frustrations in two-year delays in dealing with asylum applications.

From June 11-July 15, a total of 2,807 migrants landed on the five eastern Aegean compared to 2,467 in the same period last year while 1,845 people have been relocated to facilities on the Greek mainland over the past month, said Kathimerini.

The crisis has continued with island officials and residents upset that the ruling Radical Left SYRIZA hasn’t done more to help although Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has granted an exemption from a Value Added Tax (VAT) he imposed on the rest of the country.

European Commission migration chief Dimitris Avramopoulos, a veteran Greek politician from the major opposition New Democracy, hasn’t moved to make EU countries who closed their borders to the refugees and migrants to take in an overload from Greece as promised.

RELATED

ATHENS, Greece  — Skies over southern Greece turned an orange hue on Tuesday as dust clouds blown across the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa engulfed the Acropolis and other Athens landmarks.

Top Stories

Columnists

A pregnant woman was driving in the HOV lane near Dallas.

General News

NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.

Video

A Palestinian Baby in Gaza is Born an Orphan in an Urgent Cesarean Section after an Israeli Strike

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Sabreen Jouda came into the world seconds after her mother left it.

SEATTLE  — A former Washington state police officer wanted after killing two people, including his ex-wife, was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a chase in Oregon, authorities said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.

AUSTIN - Tesla’s first-quarter net income plummeted 55%, but its stock price surged in after-hours trading Tuesday as the company said it would accelerate production of new, more affordable vehicles.

Enter your email address to subscribe

Provide your email address to subscribe. For e.g. [email protected]

You may unsubscribe at any time using the link in our newsletter.