GENEVA: The United Nations refugee agency said on Friday that Greeceurgently needs help to cope with 1,000 migrants arriving each day and called on the European Union (EU) to step in before the humanitarian situation deteriorates further.
More than 77,000 people have arrived by sea to Greece so far this year, more than 60 percent of them Syrians, with others fleeing Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea and Somalia, it said.
“We would expect the EU to activate its emergency response because Greece is part of theEuropean Union. This is happening in Europe, on the doorstep of Europe,” William Spindler of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees told a briefing. “Greece urgently needs help and we expect Europe to step forward.”