Greece: The money's gone but the refugees are still coming

One man in Kos hastily declared an old hotel to be a shelter for refugees. Now, countless occupants share two toilets. They have no food or water. "Athens is completely overwhelmed by the refugee problem," says Ska Keller, a German Member of European Parliament.

Keller was in Kos in May and says that the overall crisis in Greece has only exacerbated the situation. The Turkish coast is visible from the port of Kos and a rubber boat can easily cross the sea route in calm water. Subsequently, more and more refugees choose this passage, but also because many transit countries require visas, even from Syrians who are fleeing from the civil war to the Mediterranean. They now constitute the masses of migrants who land on Greek islands after their journey across Turkey on land.

Barely any accommodation and care

Basically, the newcomers can expect nothing on the Greek islands. There is no social security, no transport, no food and hardly any accommodation; people camp out in the open. To register with the authorities, migrants walk for kilometers to find overcrowded offices and overwhelmed staff. In spite of the Dublin Regulations, most northern European countries do not send refugees back to Greece because of the intolerable conditions there.

Nonetheless, the refugees basically have to register themselves in Greece first and obtain a temporary residence permit so they may move around freely within the country. Syrians, as war refugees, are entitled to special protection and now their term has been extended by half a year.

Help is only available from private initiatives and non-governmental organizations like Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Some of the island's inhabitants are also very helpful. Ska Keller said only volunteers provided food and clothing, an observation that has been confirmed by foreign aid groups on site, like Pro Asyl, a German human rights organization. On the other hand, the mayor of the island recently commented on how the frazzled refugees were keeping tourists away. But no one can really say if it's the refugees or the general crisis in Greece that have affected tourist numbers.

Calls for the EU to intervene

At least Greece's ruling Syriza party has kept one of its campaign promises and released the long-term detainees from the inhumane detention centers that have been built under the previous governments, says Barbara Lochbihler, an EU parliamentarian from Germany.

But that does not apply everywhere: In April, there was a hunger strike at the Paranesti camp and a suicide recently in Amygdaleza. The EU funded the construction of the Amygdaleza detention center, which was made to accommodate 900 people. Today, 2,000 refugees live there. People released from the center end up on the street.

A political remedy is necessary: The Syriza government has already expressed its shame for the conditions in the centers but Athens has other problems to deal with at the moment. Now there are calls for the EU to intervene and take the majority of the refugees stranded in Greece. Approximately 14,000 of them are to be redistributed throughout Europe, as decided at the refugee summit in Brussels.

This number is far too low, says Lochbihler, who thinks all the refugees should be moved from the crisis-ridden nation and that Brussels must provide emergency humanitarian aid at all costs.

Brussels has received no request for help

The European Commission still has not received an application for assistance. Its last payout was made in February - 1.3 million euros out of its fund for asylum-seekers, migration and integration. If Athens needs more money, it must ask for it, from Brussels' point of view. Beyond that, Athens could obtain material aid from the disaster assistance fund. Hungary, for example, not so long ago had obtained tents for refugees. Overall, the Greek portion of the relevant commissioner's budget amounts to about 37 million yearly - a sum that dates back to the period when the country had a small intake compared to its current refugee registrations.

At their recent summit, the heads of government and state also decided on technical assistance. So-called hotspots are to be set up as quickly as possible, where EU experts can examine how much newly arrived refugees are in need of protection, so as to ease the burden on local authorities. This, however, will only solve a small part of the problem.

Humanitarian crisis for refugees in Greece

Pro Asyl's Alex Stathopoulos thinks it would help if Greece, at least for a while, allowed incoming migrants to continue their journey to other countries legally. But then, the Dublin Regulation would have to be temporarily repealed. By doing so, human lives would even be saved as the journey through Macedonia is extremely dangerous; there have been several deaths on trains and people have been attacked and robbed.

The basic problem in Greece is that there are practically no governmental structures that foreign aid organizations could latch on to. Authorities are overwhelmed and say they are not responsible. The UNHCR is now trying to set up a platform for NGOs working in the country; then they can at least coordinate the work.

And conditions have become difficult for aid workers in Greece since the banks have closed. Stathopoulos describes distressed calls from Athens: There is still money in the account, but even NGOs can only withdraw 60 Euro a day. This is too little to buy the much-needed tents for the endless lines of newcomers.