Spotlight: More help needed for refugees in Greece, as tension in hot spots rises

Greece needs further support from Europe to assist refugees stranded in the country, visiting European Commissioner for Justice Vera Jourova said Monday, as protests were reported in overcrowded hot spots in the Aegean Sea islands.

Following talks with Greek Justice Minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos, representatives of NGOs, and a visit to a refugee accommodation center in the Greek capital, the European official called for more immediate actions to be taken to aid, in particular, minors, Greek news agency AMNA reported.

"Greece should be supported in its efforts to create 1,500 positions for unaccompanied minor refugees and receive European assistance so they can live in safety," Jourova told media.

According to UNICEF there are about 28,000 minors trapped in Greece today, including about 2,500 unaccompanied children, of whom only one third are living in formal housing.

Due to shortage of suitable accommodation, several of these minors are held in protective custody at police stations, or closed detention centers.

In order to help them, Athens will receive funding, human resources and expertise, Jourova said, acknowledging that so far EU decisions on support to Greece to handle the refugee resettlement are not being implemented.

Greek officials have repeatedly complained that only some 3,000 refugees have reached other European countries so far under the EU relocation program launched last autumn, out of the 33,000 people that should be transferred across the EU by 2017.

Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos is taking the necessary steps to tackle the issue, which include the opening of infringement proceedings against member states and, as a last resort, going to the European Court of Justice, Jourova underlined.

Meanwhile, tension rises at refugee camps with almost 60,000 refugees and migrants trapped in Greece today after the closure of the Balkan route to central Europe last February, according to the latest data released by Greek authorities on Monday.

Early Monday, a group of underage refugees held at Pili reception center on Kos Island, set fire to beds and mattresses, protesting the living conditions and delays in processing their requests for asylum, AMNA reported. The incident ended with police intervention.

Similar unrest was reported at the Moria hotspot of Lesvos island where refugees have, of late, held demonstrations every other day, also in protest of living conditions and delays in the assessment of their asylum claims.

Unconfirmed rumors that eight refugees died while travelling by tanker two days ago have increased anxiety.

"My friends and I are stuck here on the island for six months," said 25-year-old Ali Gohman from Pakistan, told Xinhua.

"There is no food for a lot of people and not enough water at the camp. We cannot even take a shower," added Mombar Inno, a 31-year-old from Afghanistan.

After the implementation of the EU-Turkey deal struck in March to stem the mass influx of refugees to the Greek islands, more than 5,150 refugees and immigrants are trapped on Lesvos and have requested asylum, while the capacity of the accommodation centers reaches 3,500 people, according to data provided by the Greek Refugee Crisis Management Coordination Body.

About 13,000 refugees and migrants have been stranded on the Aegean Sea islands in recent months, with capacity in hot spots standing at 7,500, according to the official figures.

Dozens keep landing on Greek shores every day, dreaming of following in the footsteps of the more than one million people who have reached other European countries via Greece since early 2015 until the closure of borders and the implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement.

Under the terms of the March deal, so far, only 502 immigrants and refugees whose asylum applications have been examined and rejected by the relevant authorities - or they decided to voluntarily return - have been sent back to Turkey from the Greek islands, according to Greek police.

At least 269 migrants and refugees arrived on the Aegean islands only on Sunday and Monday, according to the Coast Guard, with 84 on Lesvos, 103 on Chios and 82 on Samos.

In a letter to the Deputy Minister of Migration Yiannis Mouzalas last week, the Mayor of Lesvos, Spyros Galinos, asked for the transfer of a large number of refugees and immigrants from the island to the mainland, warning about a "particularly worrying and dangerous situation."

Volunteers from the NGO "Movement Coexistence and Communication at the Aegean Sea" also expressed their anxiety specifically about the 140 minors that are "locked up" at the Moria camp. Endit