The Greek island of Kos has become a microcosm of the refugee crisis plaguing European nations. This newspaper yesterday carried a photograph on its front page of a fainting woman among a group of migrants on the island. She was one of a throng of migrants from Syria and Afghanistan waiting to be registered for onward travel.
As Greece grapples with a debt crisis, the problems of migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and some African nations vie for attention. Fortunately, amid the din of debt restructuring and bailout financing, the situation of migrants in Greece has been receiving attention. International aid bodies have been making themselves heard about the poor situation of migrants in the country, which is reeling from a debt crisis.
Kos is in the glare of international media as the police on Tuesday sprayed migrants with fire extinguishers and beat them with truncheons to avoid what it called a stampede inside the stadium where they were getting their papers processed. Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) held Greek authorities responsible for migrants’ denouement. It blamed conditions inside the stadium for the chaos. MSF said the police had locked up about 1,000 people inside the complex with no access to drinking water, toilets or shaded spots. As a result, many started passing out in the blazing sun. Kos mayor Giorgos Kiritsis has warned of “bloodshed” if the situation is allowed to spiral out of control.
Athens yesterday took steps to control the situation. More riot police has been deployed on Kos from nearby islands. What is laudable is Athens’ decision to send a ship for housing the migrants. The ship would also serve as a processing centre where the migrants would be able to show their papers to authorities.
European migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos is visiting Athens today for emergency talks with Greek ministers in Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ government. This shows despite being mired in multiple issues, the European Union has not completely lost sight of the problem.
However, the mounting dimension of the refugee crisis is threatening to dwarf all measures taken by Brussels and other European capitals. Kos is an island of 33,000 inhabitants, but has been swamped by 7,000 refugees. The ship dispatched by Athens is meant only for 2,500 people. The rest would have to wallow in the outdoors. There have been complaints about private security guards misbehaving with migrants and not allowing them to use park benches on the island.
What has been done till date is outsized by the scale of the crisis in Europe. The European Union has to become more mindful of the problem. It needs to work more sincerely to summon all its resources and divert more energy towards addressing the issue.
The Greek island of Kos has become a microcosm of the refugee crisis plaguing European nations. This newspaper yesterday carried a photograph on its front page of a fainting woman among a group of migrants on the island. She was one of a throng of migrants from Syria and Afghanistan waiting to be registered for onward travel.
As Greece grapples with a debt crisis, the problems of migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and some African nations vie for attention. Fortunately, amid the din of debt restructuring and bailout financing, the situation of migrants in Greece has been receiving attention. International aid bodies have been making themselves heard about the poor situation of migrants in the country, which is reeling from a debt crisis.
Kos is in the glare of international media as the police on Tuesday sprayed migrants with fire extinguishers and beat them with truncheons to avoid what it called a stampede inside the stadium where they were getting their papers processed. Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) held Greek authorities responsible for migrants’ denouement. It blamed conditions inside the stadium for the chaos. MSF said the police had locked up about 1,000 people inside the complex with no access to drinking water, toilets or shaded spots. As a result, many started passing out in the blazing sun. Kos mayor Giorgos Kiritsis has warned of “bloodshed” if the situation is allowed to spiral out of control.
Athens yesterday took steps to control the situation. More riot police has been deployed on Kos from nearby islands. What is laudable is Athens’ decision to send a ship for housing the migrants. The ship would also serve as a processing centre where the migrants would be able to show their papers to authorities.
European migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos is visiting Athens today for emergency talks with Greek ministers in Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ government. This shows despite being mired in multiple issues, the European Union has not completely lost sight of the problem.
However, the mounting dimension of the refugee crisis is threatening to dwarf all measures taken by Brussels and other European capitals. Kos is an island of 33,000 inhabitants, but has been swamped by 7,000 refugees. The ship dispatched by Athens is meant only for 2,500 people. The rest would have to wallow in the outdoors. There have been complaints about private security guards misbehaving with migrants and not allowing them to use park benches on the island.
What has been done till date is outsized by the scale of the crisis in Europe. The European Union has to become more mindful of the problem. It needs to work more sincerely to summon all its resources and divert more energy towards addressing the issue.
