Greece's eastern islands are struggling to cope with a surge in arrivals of migrants and asylum-seekers that has undermined efforts to ease severe overcrowding at refugee camps.
The number of people reaching Lesbos, Samos, and other Greeks islands in the eastern Aegean Sea is the highest since the European Union reached a 6 billion-euro agreement in 2016 to prevent migrants from leaving the coast of Turkey and heading to the EU.
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Greece's eastern islands are struggling to cope with a surge in arrivals of migrants and asylum-seekers that has undermined efforts to ease severe overcrowding at refugee camps.
This is exacerbating problems at crowded refugee camps. A deadly fire at the Moria refugee camp on Lesbos on Sept. 29 triggered riots at the site, which is at 400% capacity.
Authorities fear that if the arrival numbers remain high through October, a winter crisis will be difficult to avoid.
In this early Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019 photo, migrants and refugees sit in a Frontex patrol boat in the tiny harbor of Skala Sikamias, on the Greek island of Lesbos. They were picked up off a dinghy during a rescue operation. Greece's eastern islands are struggling to cope with a surge in arrivals of migrants and asylum seeks that has undermined efforts to ease severe overcrowding at refugee camps. The number of people reaching Lesbos, Samos, and other Greeks islands in the eastern Aegean Sea is the highest since the European Union reached a 6 billion euro agreement in 2016 to prevent migrants from leaving the Turkey coast and head to the EU. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this early Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019 photo, newly-arrived migrants and refugees look out from a van at the harbor of Skala Sikamias, on the Greek island of Lesbos. The new arrivals were rescued by a Frontex patrol boat off Lesbos after crossing over rom the nearby Turkish coast. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this early Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019 photo, a Frontex coast guard counts migrants and refugees in the tiny harbor of Skala Sikamias, on the Greek island of Lesbos. They were part of a group of people, mostly from Afghanistan, rescued by a Frontex patrol vessel as they were trying to cross from nearby Turkey in a plastic boat. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019 photo, migrants and refugees carry their belongings as they disembark from a ferry at the port of Piraeus, near Athens. Greek authorities have accelerated efforts to move thousands of migrants deemed to be vulnerable from the overcrowded Moria camp on the Aegean Sea island of Lesbos to camps on the mainland.(AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019 photo, people use the public wash area, in front of a pile of garbage bags at a makeshift refugee and migrant camp next to the overcrowded Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Friday Oct. 4, 2019 photo, 38-year-old Abdul Hanoi from Afghanistan sits next to his daughter Yesna outside their tent in a makeshift refugee and migrant camp on the fringes of the overcrowded Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Saturday Oct. 5, 2019 photo, 6 day-old Mohamed Helale from Syria who was born in Greece is seen inside a tent at the Moria refugee and migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.( AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Friday Oct. 4, 2019 photo, a boy from Afghanistan carries a sack of potatoes at the refugee and migrant Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. Greece's eastern islands are struggling to cope with a surge in arrivals of migrants and asylum seeks that has undermined efforts to ease severe overcrowding at refugee camps. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019 photo a Syrian boy plays with a toy car at the Moria refugee and migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. More than 12,000 people — more than four times the site's capacity — are currently housed in Moria following a spike in migrant arrivals over the summer. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this early Sunday Oct. 6, 2019 photo, a woman from Afghanistan holds her baby following a rescue operation by a Frontex patrol vessel as they arrive at the harbor of Skala Sikamias, on the Greek island of Lesbos. Her group of migrants mostly from Afghanistan were rescued trying to cross in a small boat from Turkey. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Friday Oct. 4, 2019 photo, children play near swings at the Moria refugee and migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. Greece's eastern islands are struggling to cope with a surge in arrivals of migrants and asylum seeks that has undermined efforts to ease severe overcrowding at refugee camps. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Monday, Oct. 7, 2019 photo, exhausted men sleep near the town of Madamados after their arrival with other migrants and refugees on a rubber boat from Turkey, at Lesbos Island, Greece.( AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Monday, Oct. 7, 2019 photo, a girl looks out of a van after her arrival with other migrants and refugees at the seaside village of Tsonia on Greece's Lesbos island. She was one of a group of refugees and migrants who crossed from Turkey to the beach of Tsonia on an overcrowded rubber boat after spending five hours at sea. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019 photo, a man from Kabul, Afghanistan, works out on a makeshift bench in the overcrowded Moria refugee and migrant camp, Lesbos island, Greece. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Saturday Oct. 5, 2019 photo, tombstones marking the graves of migrants and refugees who drowned at sea while crossing from nearby Turkey are seen at a cemetery near the village of Kato Tritos on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019 photo, 57-year-old Pargoul Rahmani makes bread at a makeshift bakery in the overcrowded Moria refugee and migrant camp, Lesbos island, Greece. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Monday, Oct. 7, 2019 photo, life vests are seen on a beach at the seaside village of Tsonia, Lesbos island, Greece after the arrival of refugees and migrants on a rubber boat from Turkey. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Monday, Oct. 7, 2019 photo, exhausted Afghan youths sleep on the ground near the town of Madamados after their arrival with other migrants and refugees on a rubber boat from Turkey, at Lesbos Island, Greece. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019 photo, people from Afghanistan drink tea over the fire of a makeshift bakery in the overcrowded Moria refugee and migrant camp, Lesbos island, Greece. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Dinghies carrying migrants from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere are reaching the islands despite enhanced coast guard patrolling in recent weeks supported by the Greek military.
In this early Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019 photo, refugees and migrants in a dinghy are lit by a a Greek coast guard patrol boat's spotlight during a rescue operation near the eastern Aegean Sea island of Samos. The 23 people from Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Iran who had set out from nearby Turkey were safely transferred to the coast guard patrol boat and taken to Samos. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
This is exacerbating problems at crowded refugee camps. A deadly fire at the Moria refugee camp on Lesbos on Sept. 29 triggered riots at the site, which is at 400% capacity.
The Greek government promised to accelerate transfers to the mainland and expand the network of camps there. But those transfers have so far been outnumbered by new arrivals on the islands.
Human rights group Amnesty International has described Moria as "overcrowded and unsafe" and urged other European Union countries to help Greece settle asylum-seekers.
In this early Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019 photo, refugees and migrants are transferred from their dinghy onto a Greek coast guard patrol boat during a rescue operation near the eastern Aegean Sea island of Samos. The 23 people from Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Iran had set out from nearby Turkey. They were taken to a camp on Samos. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
Authorities fear that if the arrival numbers remain high through October, a winter crisis will be difficult to avoid.
Greece's new conservative government says it also plans to detain migrants without the right to request asylum and wants to resume deportations back to Turkey under terms detailed in the 2016 EU-Turkey deal.
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In this Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019 photo, a Syrian refugee prays next to tents at the perimeter of the overcrowded refugee and migrant camp at Vathy on the island of Samos, Greece. The camp currently hosts more than seven times its capacity. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this early Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019 photo, migrants and refugees sit in a Frontex patrol boat in the tiny harbor of Skala Sikamias, on the Greek island of Lesbos. They were picked up off a dinghy during a rescue operation. Greece's eastern islands are struggling to cope with a surge in arrivals of migrants and asylum seeks that has undermined efforts to ease severe overcrowding at refugee camps. The number of people reaching Lesbos, Samos, and other Greeks islands in the eastern Aegean Sea is the highest since the European Union reached a 6 billion euro agreement in 2016 to prevent migrants from leaving the Turkey coast and head to the EU. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this early Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019 photo, newly-arrived migrants and refugees look out from a van at the harbor of Skala Sikamias, on the Greek island of Lesbos. The new arrivals were rescued by a Frontex patrol boat off Lesbos after crossing over rom the nearby Turkish coast. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this early Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019 photo, a Frontex coast guard counts migrants and refugees in the tiny harbor of Skala Sikamias, on the Greek island of Lesbos. They were part of a group of people, mostly from Afghanistan, rescued by a Frontex patrol vessel as they were trying to cross from nearby Turkey in a plastic boat. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019 photo, migrants and refugees carry their belongings as they disembark from a ferry at the port of Piraeus, near Athens. Greek authorities have accelerated efforts to move thousands of migrants deemed to be vulnerable from the overcrowded Moria camp on the Aegean Sea island of Lesbos to camps on the mainland.(AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019 photo, people use the public wash area, in front of a pile of garbage bags at a makeshift refugee and migrant camp next to the overcrowded Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Friday Oct. 4, 2019 photo, 38-year-old Abdul Hanoi from Afghanistan sits next to his daughter Yesna outside their tent in a makeshift refugee and migrant camp on the fringes of the overcrowded Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Saturday Oct. 5, 2019 photo, 6 day-old Mohamed Helale from Syria who was born in Greece is seen inside a tent at the Moria refugee and migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.( AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Friday Oct. 4, 2019 photo, a boy from Afghanistan carries a sack of potatoes at the refugee and migrant Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. Greece's eastern islands are struggling to cope with a surge in arrivals of migrants and asylum seeks that has undermined efforts to ease severe overcrowding at refugee camps. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019 photo a Syrian boy plays with a toy car at the Moria refugee and migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. More than 12,000 people — more than four times the site's capacity — are currently housed in Moria following a spike in migrant arrivals over the summer. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this early Sunday Oct. 6, 2019 photo, a woman from Afghanistan holds her baby following a rescue operation by a Frontex patrol vessel as they arrive at the harbor of Skala Sikamias, on the Greek island of Lesbos. Her group of migrants mostly from Afghanistan were rescued trying to cross in a small boat from Turkey. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Friday Oct. 4, 2019 photo, children play near swings at the Moria refugee and migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. Greece's eastern islands are struggling to cope with a surge in arrivals of migrants and asylum seeks that has undermined efforts to ease severe overcrowding at refugee camps. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Monday, Oct. 7, 2019 photo, exhausted men sleep near the town of Madamados after their arrival with other migrants and refugees on a rubber boat from Turkey, at Lesbos Island, Greece.( AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Monday, Oct. 7, 2019 photo, a girl looks out of a van after her arrival with other migrants and refugees at the seaside village of Tsonia on Greece's Lesbos island. She was one of a group of refugees and migrants who crossed from Turkey to the beach of Tsonia on an overcrowded rubber boat after spending five hours at sea. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019 photo, a man from Kabul, Afghanistan, works out on a makeshift bench in the overcrowded Moria refugee and migrant camp, Lesbos island, Greece. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Saturday Oct. 5, 2019 photo, tombstones marking the graves of migrants and refugees who drowned at sea while crossing from nearby Turkey are seen at a cemetery near the village of Kato Tritos on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019 photo, 57-year-old Pargoul Rahmani makes bread at a makeshift bakery in the overcrowded Moria refugee and migrant camp, Lesbos island, Greece. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Monday, Oct. 7, 2019 photo, life vests are seen on a beach at the seaside village of Tsonia, Lesbos island, Greece after the arrival of refugees and migrants on a rubber boat from Turkey. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Monday, Oct. 7, 2019 photo, exhausted Afghan youths sleep on the ground near the town of Madamados after their arrival with other migrants and refugees on a rubber boat from Turkey, at Lesbos Island, Greece. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
In this Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019 photo, people from Afghanistan drink tea over the fire of a makeshift bakery in the overcrowded Moria refugee and migrant camp, Lesbos island, Greece. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
