'Shameful' Conditions For Migrants In Greece

A UN refugee spokesman has criticised the conditions migrants are experiencing when they arrive on Greek islands.

Around 124,000 migrants - most fleeing war in Syria and Afghanistan - have arrived on Greece's coastline since the beginning of the year, a 750% increase compared to the same period last year.

More than 50,000 people arrived in July alone but only a fraction of these remain in the country to claim asylum there.

But the head of the UN refugee agency's Europe division says they find themselves having to sleep outside and rely on volunteers for food and water.

Vincent Cochetel said that, while Greece is struggling to support its own people during its economic crisis, the country's officials still needed to sort out their response to the growing number of refugees.

The UNHCR director for Europe said: "We are concerned with the situation where no one is really assuming leadership in the response, which makes it very difficult for humanitarian operators to participate in the efforts."

"In terms of water, in terms of sanitation, in terms of food assistance, it's totally inadequate. On most of the islands, there is no reception capacity, people are not sleeping under any form of roof.

"So it's total chaos on the islands.

"The level of suffering we have seen on the islands is unbearable."

He demanded urgent action from Athens, saying: "I've been working 30 years with UNHCR (and) I have never seen a situation like that...This is the European Union, and this is totally shameful."

On his twitter feed, he posted photos taken during his visit to Chios, Kos and Lesbos, describing reception facilities on Kos as "appalling" and those on Lesbos as "unacceptable", adding: "More needs to be done by Greece and the EU".

He told the media that "the top priority is not to let another Calais develop in other places of Europe", adding: "We believe that Europe needs to react and will react, because this is affecting so many European countries."

The Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras responded to the words by pleading with Europe for help, saying his country could not deal with the thousands of people while its own citizens are struggling with austerity measures.

Mr Tsipras said the boatloads arriving daily had triggered a "humanitarian crisis within the economic crisis" and that it was "beyond what our state infrastructure can handle".

He added: "The EU being tested on the issue of Greece. It has responded negatively on the economic front - that's my view. I hope it will respond positively on the humanitarian front."