Rights Groups Call On Greece, EU To Transfer Thousands Of Migrants From Aegean Islands

A total of 20 human rights and refugee protection groups urged Greek authorities and other European countries on Thursday to transfer thousands of migrants being kept in camps on five Greek islands in the Aegean Sea to the mainland while they wait for their asylum applications to be processed.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th December, 2018) A total of 20 human rights and refugee protection groups urged Greek authorities and other European countries on Thursday to transfer thousands of migrants being kept in camps on five Greek islands in the Aegean Sea to the mainland while they wait for their asylum applications to be processed.

According to the groups' statement published on the official website of Human Rights Watch, around 12,500 asylum-seekers are currently living in containers and tents in the EU-supported camps on the islands of Chios, Kos, Leros, Lesbos and Samos. The human rights advocates decried the conditions as inhumane, given overcrowding, poor sanitation and people's vulnerability to violence. They also warned that the provided accommodation was not suitable for winter.

"The Greek government and its European Union partners should urgently ensure that all asylum seekers on the Aegean islands are transferred to suitable accommodation on the mainland or relocated to other EU countries as winter approaches .

.. Greece, with the support of EU institutions and countries, should end its inhumane containment policy," the statement read.

The statement noted that Portugal had already agreed to accommodate 100 migrants from the islands and could potentially receive another 1,000 asylum-seekers in 2019.

"Other EU countries should follow," the groups insisted.

Apart from Human Rights Watch, the call has been supported by such groups as Amnesty International, Oxfam, the Greek Council for Refugees and Medecins Du Monde - Greece.

European countries have been experiencing a severe migration crisis since 2015 due to the influx of hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers fleeing violence in the middle East and North Africa. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 29,780 asylum-seekers have reached Greece by sea as of December 2.