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Game of Thrones actors visit Greek refugee island

Xinhua, June 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

The cast of the popular fantasy drama television series Game of Thrones visited Kara-Tepe refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos on Wednesday, urging more tourists visit the island.

"It was absolutely wonderful to see the work that is going on here and how beautiful the refugees and migrants are treated. It just makes your heart bigger," Liam Cunningham (Sir Davos) told Xinhua during the visit, which was made at the invitation of the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

Cunningham, Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) talked with the refugee families who are hosted in the camp, and played with the minor refugees.

After about two hours' visit in Kara-Tepe, the cast were guided to the Castle of Mytilene by Levos Mayor Spiros Galinos.

In March, Game of Thrones and the IRC launched the Rescue Has No Boundaries campaign to raise awareness and bring aid to the millions of refugees and displaced people around the world. Cunningham, Williams and Headey were among the cast who had appeared in an IRC video calling viewers to donate their time and resources to help the estimated 60 million people worldwide who have fled their homes to escape violence.

On Wednesday, Lesvos, the island which has received the bulk of refugee and migrant arrivals to Greece since early 2015, counted zero arrivals, while the Camp of Moria and the Camp of Kara-Tepe hosted 2,854 refugees and migrants, according to the local police.

The arrivals of refugees and migrants to Lesvos is dropping quickly after the implementation of the refugee deal between EU and Ankara to stem the influx from Turkey, local authorities repeated on Wednesday.

According to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, the total arrivals on Lesvos in 2016 until June 28 were 90,892. In January and February there were 42,601 and 31,416 arrivals respectively, while in March and April, the number dropped to 14,155 and 1,766 respectively. The average number of daily arrivals during June was 15, while in May it was 17 and in April 59.

Tourist arrivals in the Aegean island have recorded a fall of 65 percent in May and local tourist agents said the refugee crisis has aggravated problems in local tourism industry. Endit