Greek island overwhelmed by stranded migrants, despair

[webfact]

Greek island overwhelmed by stranded migrants, despair
By HAMZA HENDAWI

MYTILENE, Greece (AP) — It was supposed to be the first step on their journey to Western Europe. But now thousands of migrants are mired in despair, anger and frustration on the scenic Greek island of Lesbos.

After perilous sea voyages from neighboring Turkey, they have been stranded here for days, some for nearly two weeks, running out of money and desperate to get to mainland Greece and continue their route.

The island of some 100,000 residents has been transformed by the sudden new population of some 20,000 refugees and migrants, mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan — and the strain is pushing everyone to the limit.

Fights break out among the migrants as they wait in long lines for hours in the summer heat and humidity, after days without showers. Families, sleeping on the streets, wander the seaside promenade of Mytilene, Lesbos' capital, asking at the swanky cafes and restaurants to use their bathrooms or charge phones. The small police force, overwhelmed by the numbers, charges in at any sign of trouble, beating crowds with batons to break them up.

"We escaped from ruin to be met with more ruin here," said Mohammed Salama, a 45-year-old Syrian. He fled the Damascus suburbs where fighting has raged for years, seeking a refuge so he can bring his four daughters and pregnant wife who remained behind.

"I did not come here to make money," he said Sunday. "I came here so I can later bring my children and have them live in safety."

Lesbos is one of several Greek islands hugging the Turkish coast that are the first stop for many of those trying to reach Western Europe. Here, they must register with police and receive an official document. Without that document, they can't buy a ferry ticket to the mainland to continue on land through the Balkans.

But the registration offices are swamped, slowing everything down. Under the punishing sun in high humidity, hundreds crowd outside the offices for hours. Brawls break out frequently among the hot, exhausted crowds, often met by police swinging batons and shouting, "Pisso!" — Greek for "go away."

The nerves of Lesbos residents as well are fraying.

Drivers blast their horns in fury at migrants walking in the middle of the streets by Mytilene's port. Some passers-by roll their eyes disapprovingly. Many put on surgical masks when they pass through the area, convinced the new arrivals are bringing disease. On Saturday, two elderly men walked among the overwhelmingly Muslim migrants handing out copies of the Bible in Arabic.

Others complain about the litter — bottles, plastic bags and cardboard thrown into the sea and covering the streets around the port.

"Why, man? Why?" one municipality worker, pointing to bottles in the sea, yelled at some young Iraqis sitting by the water throwing bread to fish.

There are also acts of courtesy and kindness. Sitting outside a hotel having a morning coffee, a Greek woman in her 60s was met by an endless stream of passing Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans asking her questions — Where was a pharmacy? Where do they sell phone cards? She patiently answered every one.

Some restaurants let in women and children to use their bathrooms. Policemen sometimes help the elderly, offering them seats, and when there are no tensions, they quietly answer the migrants' countless questions about their fate.

Among the refugees and migrants, confusion reigns. Lines suddenly form and people rush to join them and wait for hours, only to discover the line was sparked by a rumor and they were waiting for nothing.

On Saturday, a crowd converged on one of the prefab caravans that serve as registration offices by the port. Impatient Afghans jumped on the roof, pounding it, and it turned into a fight between them and Syrians in the line, until police rushed in. It turned out the caravan was empty.

"I admit, we may not be organized, but the police don't have to hit us so hard," complained Khaled Ghazal, a Syrian travelling with a 10-year-old son suffering from a blood disease. Maysa Mustafa, a Syrian environmentalist, showed bruises on her shoulder she said were from police beatings. Another Syrian, Ahmed Tawil, had a black eye.

The national, class and sectarian divisions show. Most of the Afghans are impoverished men in their 20s, while the Syrians and Iraqis include families and the middle class — and they complain often about the Afghan youth pushing their way to the front of lines. It doesn't help that most of the Afghans are from their country's Shiite minority, a point several of the mainly Sunni Muslim Syrians, coming from a bloody war with sectarian overtones, bitterly mentioned.

On Sunday, about 300 people, mostly Afghans, demonstrated on the street outside the port, demanding to be allowed to go. "Atina, Atina!" they chanted, referring to the Greek capital Athens that they want to reach, until police swinging batons dispersed them.

The migrants' day begins at sunrise, as they converge on the registration offices, hopeful that today they will finish. But the day drags on with lines, scuffles, confusion — and exhaustion and despair set in. Many sit on the sidewalks stunned, silently staring at the sea. Infants cry constantly. Parents try to comfort children sobbing from thirst or hunger.

Two or three times a day, a ferry arrives, and those who have gotten their documents and bought tickets rush to the port. Each ferry carries about 2,000 people to the port of Piraeus near Athens.

In the evening, those still waiting search the streets for pieces of cardboard to sleep on. Camps have been set up outside Mytilene, but few want to use them because they want to stay near the port.

"I am not really equipped to handle this kind of hardship," said Baraah, a 40-year-old Syrian widow travelling with her three teenage children and her late husband's sister. She spoke on condition she be identified only by her first name to prevent problems for family back home.

A teacher with a degree in English, she fled the Syrian city of Aleppo, one of the war's worst battlegrounds. "In Aleppo I had a home with an air conditioner, a microwave and a good oven," she said. "I left all that so I could come here and the children could be safe."

Now Baraah — whose means "innocent" in Arabic — has been stuck in Lesbos for 10 days, her money running out, sleeping on the sidewalk by the port for her chance at the paper.

Sunday morning, she turned to a passing Syrian woman and asked, "How is the line?"

"God curse the line and the line's father," the woman snapped before rushing away.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-09-08

[sirineou]

I don't understand, doesn't require a visa to enter Greece? How can these people register with the authorities, buy a ferry ticket and continue to the Balkans.

Edit

I guess on second thought , what can the Greek authorities do with them. So Sad

Edited September 7, 2015 by sirineou

[timbothaivisa]

Why haven't these people been made comfortable in refugee camps? Why haven't the hundreds of thousands of men been recruited into a liberation army?

[Seastallion]

I don't understand, doesn't require a visa to enter Greece? How can these people register with the authorities, buy a ferry ticket and continue to the Balkans.

Edit

I guess on second thought , what can the Greek authorities do with them. So Sad

Ahhhh....you're falling for the misleading headline.

[sean in udon]

"On Saturday, two elderly men walked among the overwhelmingly Muslim migrants handing out copies of the Bible in Arabic."

No toilet facilities, nowhere to wash and clean, sleeping on the streets, etc, and a couple of pricks walking around handing out bibles. Just what they need.

There's no need to throw garbage into the sea, but I hope that's where the bibles end up.

[baboon]

"He fled the Damascus suburbs where fighting has raged for years, seeking a refuge so he can bring his four daughters and pregnant wife who remained behind."

That really does your cause the power of good, leaving the wife and kids to fend for themselves while you get yourself sorted out first..

[baboon]

"On Saturday, two elderly men walked among the overwhelmingly Muslim migrants handing out copies of the Bible in Arabic."

No toilet facilities, nowhere to wash and clean, sleeping on the streets, etc, and a couple of pricks walking around handing out bibles. Just what they need.

There's no need to throw garbage into the sea, but I hope that's where the bibles end up.

I presume there is a shortage of bog roll, so not a good move.

[NongKhaiKid]

The EU's solution is to tell member countries to share the load !

What about trying to stop the influx ? It's fact not heartless to say they are not wanted and there will be a price to pay later and i don't mean the money.

[Seastallion]

"He fled the Damascus suburbs where fighting has raged for years, seeking a refuge so he can bring his four daughters and pregnant wife who remained behind."

That really does your cause the power of good, leaving the wife and kids to fend for themselves while you get yourself sorted out first..

You could spin it like that, or you could think he's much more courageous, leaving his loved ones in a dangerous but known and predictable place while he sets off on a dangerous and unpredictable journey to seek refuge in the hopes of bringing them later.

[phantomfiddler]

Why haven't these people been made comfortable in refugee camps? Why haven't the hundreds of thousands of men been recruited into a liberation army?

They do not want comfort in refugee camps or to form a liberation army. They want to sign on to good old U.K. Welfare

[craigt3365]

Watch the 2 videos in this thread:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/853898-survey-should-eu-countries-continue-to-accept-refugees-and-migrants/page-4#entry9827789

Incredible. I feel sorry for all involved.

[sean in udon]

"On Saturday, two elderly men walked among the overwhelmingly Muslim migrants handing out copies of the Bible in Arabic."

No toilet facilities, nowhere to wash and clean, sleeping on the streets, etc, and a couple of pricks walking around handing out bibles. Just what they need.

There's no need to throw garbage into the sea, but I hope that's where the bibles end up.

I presume there is a shortage of bog roll, so not a good move.

Given their circumstances, bog roll is a much better idea.

Thanks for putting a smile on my face.

[Bakseeda]

The whole <deleted> lot should be rounded up and returned to their home countries..... why have these Balkan countries got armies but to quell invasions... Stuff the do-gooders.. its not their own moneys they are spending....

[stephenterry]

Trouble is Lesbos is just not equipped to hasten the journey of 20,000 refugees. If they process 1000 a day (a big ask), it would take 3 weeks minimum to clear those that are there, without any new refugees arriving in the meantime. Logistical nightmare and a nightmare for those waiting for passage to the mainland. The one practical solution is to provide the documentation at the mainland port by drafting in enough officers to handle the numbers.

[boomerangutang]

Extreme situations take extreme measures: get some well fueled tugs out in the open water. When a ship shows up, with a long chain or rope, tow it back to the Syrian coast. Have some gunners on the tow boat. If seriously threatened or if the tether is cut/undone, shoot. Better to try and stem the tide as close to its source as possible. Because once they set foot in Europe, the farther in they get - the harder it will be to ship 'em back

On the other end. If northern European bureaucrats decide a person is not qualified for emmigration, what are they going to do? put 'em on a plane or a boat back to where they started from? It won't work. It's a ratchet effect. Once they're in, there's no going back.

[maidee]

where do they get the moeny to pay the human smugglers ?

or is it just a cash advance as they know they will rob the tax payers that will give them an allowance for life ?

[Ulysses G.]

Te whole thing is very sad. You can;t help but feel sorry for the refugees, but it is eventual suicide to let Muslims keep swarming into the West.

[SOTIRIOS]

...they should be grateful that they are not rotting in a boat or the bottom of the sea..

...for a group of 20,000 to invade an island of 100,000 and DEMAND work/employment (as in the riot video) is completely insane...

...and to put the onus on Greece especially in its present economic woes....this is an international issue....

...who started the war in their home country.....who did anything to prevent it...or this aftermath....

...pathetic....

...where is The UN in all of this....really strange....

[Doc46]

Why haven't these people been made comfortable in refugee camps? Why haven't the hundreds of thousands of men been recruited into a liberation army?

Why not send them back home ,,,,They are invading an other Country,,,,

[wabothai]

No relief in the superrich gulfstates and Israel.

Excuse: we don't want them.

[JHolmesJr]

Get rid off all food on lesbos, keeping only ham and bacon....and let them know there is nothing else. That might force them to pick another place.

[manarak]

No relief in the superrich gulfstates and Israel.

Excuse: we don't want them.

An excuse is a non-genuine reason put forward to save face.

To me, "we don't want them" looks like a perfectly honest answer.

Besides the tragedy of the situations many of these people are in, the politically correct contorsions of many politicians are just comical.

At least Merkel is genuine when she says there is no legal limit on refugees.

So we now know a limit is needed.

Edited September 8, 2015 by manarak

[boomerangutang]

Another aspect regarding the other end of the equation: If refugees are processed and then found to not qualify for refugee status, the law indicates they should be sent back. However, it's completely untenable. It's like saying, if you tell a naughty boy he's naughty, he will forthwith go home. Here are some of the ways refugees who are turned-down will react:

>>> anger": "why do you hate my people? Do you want to see me and my family starve on the front steps of your house?!"

>>> legal wrangles: appeal, appeal, and appeal some more. Meanwhile, they may be housed in jails which are heated, have clean beds, 3 stout meals a day, satellite TV, free medical and dental coverage, computer consoles for FB, email, x-rated sites. That's a whole lot nicer than sitting in bombed-out rubble in Syria with no food.

>>> run and hide: Easy to do in hyper-liberal Europe.

>>> conspire to bomb the infidel/apostate/heretic Europeans. After all, they deserve it, particularly if they turned down your application.

>>> rape their girls. (in extremists' view) The girls deserve it for not covering their heads. They girls probably also enjoy it, because they grow up in such an amoral pleasure-seeking society.

Also: and this is legally true: IF SYRIA DOESN'T WANT TO TAKE ANY OF THEIR PEOPLE BACK, EUROPE CAN'T COMPEL THEM TO DO SO !!! It's true !

[timbothaivisa]

Why haven't these people been made comfortable in refugee camps? Why haven't the hundreds of thousands of men been recruited into a liberation army?

Why not send them back home ,,,,They are invading an other Country,,,,

Lucky you weren't in Europe during WW2

[Usernames]

Muslim Lebensraum