UN High Commissioner for refugees to visit Greece for humanitarian assessment

UN High Commissioner for refugees Antonio Guterres is scheduled to begin a two and a half-day mission to Greece this Saturday to assess the humanitarian response to the Mediterranean crisis and determining how his office can further support those efforts.

A UN refugee agency UNHCR spokesperson said on Friday morning during a press briefing here that Guterres will visit the island of Lesvos first, the main entry point for most of the more than 428,000 people who have made the sea crossing from Turkey to Greece so far this year.

Then the UN refugee chief will get a first-hand look at the arrival areas, visit reception sites and meet with local authorities, NGOs, volunteer groups and others involved in the relief effort, the spokesperson said.

Guterres will be in Greece's capital of Athens on Sunday and Monday, when he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and other members of his Cabinet, as well as foreign diplomatic missions and NGOs.

According to the latest figure from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), up to some 7,000 migrants and refugees have been arriving every day on Greek islands in the past week, almost double the number in last month.

IOM indicated that this sharp increase may be attributed to the expected deterioration of weather conditions in the Mediterranean, making boat crossings from neighboring Turkey particularly dangerous. Endit