REVIEW - Thousands Of Migrants Stuck On Greek Islands As Greek Authorities Mull Solutions

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2018) As many as 9,500 migrants are living in camps on the Greek island of Lesbos, uncertain over their future, while Greek authorities are mulling possible solutions.

As many as 8,789 are in Moria camp, although its capacity is only 3,300 people, according to UN figures. About 700 migrants are in other camps, such as Kara Tepe refugee camp for socially vulnerable people.

No more than 100 people are working at Moria, although there are about 9,000 refugees there, Stavros Stavridis, the deputy head of the camp, told Sputnik.

"Out of 100 people, only 25-28 are staff, the rest have contracts. We work and make plans in accordance with when the contracts end. We do not know what will happen to us when they end," Stavridis said.

Olive fields next to the camp are covered by migrants' tents. Migrants, refugees, camp workers and local authorities call this territory Olive Grove. The grove is separated into zones so that families with children would not live next to unmarried men.

People who live in the camp have told Sputnik that they do not feel safe on its territory.

"People here can steal, rape, be cruel. We need security. If you are just watching us steal from one another and strangle one another, then what is your humanity about?" Ridja Hammad Issa from Iraq, whose passport was stolen for ransom some time ago, told Sputnik.

According to Ridja, drugs are being sold on the territory. CCTV would help bring down crime.

Rubab Mirza from Pakistan has spent three months in the Olive Grove with her husband and an eight-month old son. She said that the toilets used by thousands of people are cleaned only twice a day and medical services are limited due to the lack of doctors and drugs. Rubab's family is now scared of the advance of winter.

Part of the reasons for camps being overpopulated is the time it takes migration services to look at applications. As many as 178,485 applications have been registered in Greece since 2013, 29,296 applications ave been made for asylum on Lesbos since 2013, according to the Greek authorities.

A number of EU states have agreed to take in some refugees to help Greece, but by the end of March 2018 only 21,999 people were relocated.

Meanwhile, according to the United Nations, about 18,400 migrants and refugees were residing on the Aegean islands as of September. At least 62,500 were living in all of Greece as of August 31.

According to the European Commission, Greece received 1.6 billion Euros (about $1.9 billion) in the last three years to address the migration crisis. However, the camps still have financing issues. According to Stavridis, a request to fund the purchase of bedding or a bed for a child may be processed for up to three months.

However, Lesbos Mayor Spyros Galinos said that financing was not the main issue.

"Greece cannot be left alone, and, moreover, Lesbos cannot be left alone. The island in the Aegean Sea, a spot on the map, cannot alone shoulder the global humanitarian crisis," the mayor said, stressing that the European Union was shirking its responsibility.

The migration crisis has hit the Greek economy: the country's government said that the tourism revenue decreased by 0.88 billion euro in 2016. Greek businesspeople have had to lower their prices to stay competitive.

"I think we are currently living through the second stage of the migration crisis ... This has really influenced my store, the tourist season has grown shorter, the damages are great. For example, in 2013 and 2014, we welcomed 117 cruise ships, but now only one cruise ship from Cyprus came, and that one was on religious pilgrimage in any case. You see what damages were inflicted upon our town and our stores," Mihalis Mihalakelis, the owner of Aeolia Earth shop, told Sputnik.

Valia Barbatiotis, the owner of Books & Art store in the city of Mytilene, said the changes were more of a "social nature." Barbatiotis said that the people in the camp were living in terrible conditions and pointed out that, despite the solidarity the Lesbos residents showed, "the camp needs to be rooted out, the island should be freed."

The regional authorities said in September that Moria camp would have to be closed if the situation was not resolved.

Christiana Kalogirou, the regional governor of the North Aegean, said that the Ministry of Immigration Policy would be responsible for where the migrants have to go.

"As the North Aegean region, we are responsible solely for the protection of the population's health," Kalogirou said.

Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas said that 70 percent of the people in Moria had arrived there in the last three months.

"We are establishing 3,000 more placements as soon as we can in addition to the 5,000 we set up in mainland Greece. Secondly, we want to speed up the process of granting asylum. We will establish mobile teams that will go to Moria and other islands to speed up the process," the minister told Sputnik.

Vitsas stressed that the issues of refugees was gradually disappearing from the European agenda.

"They are all considered economic migrants. Whereas we are talking about relocating those who have the right to international protection and the return of those who does not have this right," the minister said.

The key issue, according to the minister, is that the relevant decisions should be those of the whole Europe.