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3/10/2015. Refugees In Kos. Although the refugee situation on the Greek island of Kos has eased over the last two weeks, there is according to the French humanitarian organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), 200/300 people still arriving each day on the island. There are still no facilities whatever to support those arriving and it is left to organisations like MSF and some local volunteer groups to try and provide some element of food, shelter and medical support. The only real change by the island authorities, is a speeding up of the processing of refugees, which now takes 2 to 4 days depending on numbers. Although this is an improvement, men, women and children, waiting for this amount of time in the baking hot sun, after risking their lives and surviving a sea crossing, have a right to feel that they are being viewed as nothing more than unwanted and unsightly flotsam, washed in by the sea. Sitting in tiny tents on the promenade facing the local police station, they are a cause of mild curioisty to tourists walking, cycling and driving past. To many of the refugees, the Kos seafront with its bars, cafes, beach buggies and private yatchs, is their first peek into what must look like economic and social heaven. Yet it is MSF which is left with the task of providing them with tents, toilets, washing facilities and medical care. In August alone, more than 107,000 people arrived on the Greek Islands, compared to 43,500 for all of 2014. From mis- March to August 31 of this year, MSF carried out 4,455 consultations, and distributed 8,494 relief items such as soaps, combs, tooth brushes and towels, including 2,400 sleeping blankets and survival blankets. It is easy to blame the Kos and Greek authorities for the poor level of support. But no one country should be left to carry the burden, simply because they turn out to be the first port of call for people escaping from war and oppression. It has to be a shared European Union sulution, for which the United States must also take some of the blame and be prepared to put its hands into its deep pockets to support countries like Greece and Italy on the front line of the greatest movement of people since the Second World War. Photo shows a life jacket left behind by refugees who survived the sea crossing from Turkey to Kos.Photo: RollingNews.ie
3/10/2015. Refugees In Kos. Although the refugee situation on the Greek island of Kos has eased over the last two weeks, there is according to the French humanitarian organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), 200/300 people still arriving each day on the island. There are still no facilities whatever to support those arriving and it is left to organisations like MSF and some local volunteer groups to try and provide some element of food, shelter and medical support. The only real change by the island authorities, is a speeding up of the processing of refugees, which now takes 2 to 4 days depending on numbers. Although this is an improvement, men, women and children, waiting for this amount of time in the baking hot sun, after risking their lives and surviving a sea crossing, have a right to feel that they are being viewed as nothing more than unwanted and unsightly flotsam, washed in by the sea. Sitting in tiny tents on the promenade facing the local police station, they are a cause of mild curioisty to tourists walking, cycling and driving past. To many of the refugees, the Kos seafront with its bars, cafes, beach buggies and private yatchs, is their first peek into what must look like economic and social heaven. Yet it is MSF which is left with the task of providing them with tents, toilets, washing facilities and medical care. In August alone, more than 107,000 people arrived on the Greek Islands, compared to 43,500 for all of 2014. From mis- March to August 31 of this year, MSF carried out 4,455 consultations, and distributed 8,494 relief items such as soaps, combs, tooth brushes and towels, including 2,400 sleeping blankets and survival blankets. It is easy to blame the Kos and Greek authorities for the poor level of support. But no one country should be left to carry the burden, simply because they turn out to be the first port of call for people escaping from war and oppression. It has to be a shared European Union sulution, for which the United States must also take some of the blame and be prepared to put its hands into its deep pockets to support countries like Greece and Italy on the front line of the greatest movement of people since the Second World War. Photo shows a refugee wrapped up against the morning chill. Photo: RollingNews.ie