REFUGEES

Slow response to migrant surge in Kos leaves refugees adrift

The Greek island of Kos has been unprepared for the huge influx of refugees that have landed on its shores. The authorities have done little for the migrants, who have been left to themselves, reports Andres Caballero.

Nearly 1,000 migrants rush the entry gates at Kos' main seaport on Sunday, hoping to board a commercial ship chartered by the Greek government to process and house refugees who crossed the sea channel from Turkey on rubber dinghies.

Some have waited for more than 20 days on the island, sleeping in tents along the shore, or in the open beneath the trees with little food, water and no access to toilettes.

"We are working with local authorities to identify a site where people could be accommodated with tents that we could provide, but first we have to convince the authorities to provide a site," said Roberto Mignone, emergency coordinator for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Greek authorities and UNHCR personnel struggle to contain the pushing and shoving among the crowd while a woman holds her baby and keeps the rest of her children close. Tensions rise after disagreements as to who will go first and the authorities announce only Syrians will be allowed on the ship for the time being.

Mariah, 25, who only gave her first name, arrived from Afghanistan two weeks ago and still has not managed to get paperwork that would allow her to leave the island and continue her journey. She hopes to reach Germany or Sweden.

"I am living in the street, in the garden. At night I am afraid. I don't know what I should do. And I don't have money, I don't have a place to stay," she told DW.

She stands near the gate, disheartened, with few belongings and her seven-year-old daughter, watching the Syrians make their way toward the large, lit up vessel expected to hold nearly 2,500 people.

The Greek government chartered a ship to help register and house migrants

Like many other Greek islands, Kos, with a population of nearly 30,000, has been overwhelmed by a wave of migration. More than 7,000 refugees, asylum seekers and migrants arrived in the month of July. Greece, which is undergoing its own economic crisis, has received 156,726 migrants and refugees who crossed by sea since January, according to numbers from the Hellenic Police and the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction.

In addition to the war in Syria, analysts say the surge of arrivals is due to calmer seas in the summer months, allowing easier transport for the small craft.

Unprecedented influx

Last week, violence broke out at a football stadium where people had been queuing in the sun, with no food or water, to get their immigration papers. The police locked in more than 1,000 refugees for nearly 24 hours and used batons and fire extinguishers to keep order. Four days later, fights broke out among 50 migrants from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan in front of the island's main police station.

According to Yannis Koutsomitis, an independent political and economic analyst in Greece, the government was not prepared for the migrant and refugee arrivals.

"There is no infrastructure to manage their applications and paperwork, the police stations are understaffed, and there was no efficient plan on how to move the refugees," he said.

There is still no official reception or refugee camps for migrants who arrive in Greece, although the government is talking about allocating spaces for them soon.

Refugees queue to on the streets to get on the Eleftherios Venizelos

"We are working with local authorities to identify a site where people could be accommodated, with tents that we could provide," said Mignone.

"Our understanding is that more support to Greece is on the way. I hope they do that soon, because the situation is difficult to manage," he added.

Longing for a solution

After two hours, the scene seemed calmer at the gates of the seaport Kos. The rest of the Syrian migrants sat in a line on the ground throughout the night, waiting to register inside the ship. At least 1,000 were able to do so.

Last week, Kos Mayor Giorgis Krystis said that the ship would remain docked for no more than two weeks, and that it would not become a permanent refugee camp.

On the town's main stretch, Angel, a local in his 20s who only gave his first name, looks at the refugee encampment from the empty restaurant where he works.

"The situation is bad for them, but is bad for us too," he said. "Tourists are afraid to come to this side at night. They don't want to see these people living like this. I am scared to walk at night," he added.

Some locals are worried that the surge in migration and changing aesthetics of the island may hurt a tourist season that has so far fared well amid Greece's economic crisis.

Refugees camp on the beach across the street from Kos' main police station

Daniel Esdras, who heads the International Organization for Migration's office in Greece said, "Having so many people in a small island, things are bound to get tough. In the beginning, people were welcoming them, now they're getting tired."

Still, tourists are often seen handing out water bottles to refugees who sit in the shade to avoid the hot sun.

Scottish vacationer Alan Davidson, sips on his cocktail at a bar and looks out toward the sea view now overtaken by refugee tents.

"I sympathize with them because they obviously have problems in their own countries, he said. "I understand why locals and tourists can get upset when they look at the way these people are living, but I have not had any problems. People have been desperate to get out of their countries because of war and they just want to look after their families. We would do the same if we were in their place."