USA Today — The United Nations’ secretary-general is calling on European nations to provide additional aid to Greece as it struggles to cope with the migrant crisis.
An estimated 1 million people fled from Turkey to Greece last year, many of them risking their lives in boats to reach the Greek Islands, where they can seek asylum to remain in the European Union. Thousands remain stuck in the islands, and even more are on the mainland. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited with refugees and Greece’s prime minister Saturday.
Ban said an increasing number of refugees, especially young women, are being exploited as they seek asylum. And he said an estimated 450 migrants drown in the Mediterranean each month. Many are buried in unmarked graves on the island of Lesbos, where their bodies are often brought or washed ashore.
“The international community must do more to resolve conflicts and address the factors causing so much suffering and upheaval,” Ban said in a speech in Lesbos. “We must also stand together against border closures, barriers and bigotry. I call on the countries of Europe to respond with a humane and human rights-based approach. Detention is not the answer. It should end immediately. Let us work together to resettle more people, provide legal pathways, and better integrate refugees. I recognise the difficulties. But the world has the wealth, the capacity and the duty to meet this challenge.”
Greece’s prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, gave Ban a life jacket during their news conference Saturday morning. The life jackets have become a symbol of the migrants fleeing across the Mediterranean.
The EU’s deal with Turkey has been under pressure recently. The deal sees migrants who arrive in Greece from Turkey sent back if their asylum application is rejected. As part of the deal, the EU takes in one Syrian refugee with an approved asylum claim based in Turkey for each migrant it deports. Also part of the deal is a commitment from the EU to allow Turks visa-free travel in Europe. But the EU first wants Turkey to modify its anti-terror laws, something Ankara has refused to do. The EU and human rights groups claim Turkey uses its terrorism legislation as part of a broader attempt to suppress political dissent in the country.
In a statement, Oxfam said its teams have found migrants lacking good shelter, sanitation and medical care, and that many just don’t know the status of their asylum claims.
“Families have told the team that they would not feel as distressed if they just knew what was going on,” the non-profit aid confederation said in a statement. “These are issues that the Greek government and European Union must collectively address as a matter of urgency. The situation should not be this poor, this far into this crisis.”
