Chaos and death in race to Europe
IN one corner of a muddy cemetery on a wind-swept Greek island, a tiny plaque marks the grave of three-day old baby, one of thousands of people who drowned fleeing to Greece this year. The chaos of the desperate seacrossing between Turkey and Greece is such that even these most vulnerable babies cannot be protected. Last week, just days after I stood at that tragic grave on Lesbos island, seven more children drowned in the Aegean sea.
‘Traffickers have lower rates for stormy days’
More than 800,000 people have entered Greece this year from wartorn Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and neighbouring countries. Over a million refugees have arrived including those who landed in Italy, Malta and Gozo. Following the Paris attacks, concerns grew that terrorists could slip into Europe, with one bomber suspected of passing through Greece.
One Greek analyst warns sweeping public service cutbacks have dramatically reduced Greece’s ability to process refugees. But in spite of an EU donation of €3bn to Turkey to keep refugees on their side of the sea, the boats continue to come.
I travelled to the Greek island of Lesbos, the entry-point for almost half the refugees in Europe this year.
Standing on rocky Eftalou beach, I could clearly see Turkey, and even the white towers of a mosque less than 10km across the sea.
It would make a glorious summer outing, on a sleek yacht with trained crew. But cheap, inflatable dinghies steered by terrified refugees, most of whom cannot swim, frequently sink or run aground instead.
Traffickers charge up to €1,200 per person for this nightmare, with lower rates on stormy days.
The day starts early here as the group of volunteers who travel to Greece to help the migrants, including many Irish people, guide a crowded dinghy in soon after sunrise.
One little boy, his teeth chattering hard enough to be heard metres away screamed at medics trying to wrap him in a foil blanket. No parents, just a dazed-looking teenage boy helplessly shushing him. People mill about, seeking a phone signal.
The UN says 60% of arrivals are male, one quarter are children and 16% are women.
Dinghies carry at least 50 people, and usually arrive in clusters. Medics from Jordan do as much translation as medical work, with the first question often being: ‘Where am I?’.
Coaches take people up winding mountain roads to transit camps. One is in the car-park of OXY nightclub. Late at night, I watch people stumble in, grit blowing in their faces. It’s easy to get on the wrong bus, to get separated.
And under cover of darkness, other things happen. A volunteer on clean-up duty after many boats arrived at once, found four Moroccan passports discarded on the rocks. A Syrian man told another he was baffled by unfamiliar Arabic spoken by men claiming to be Syrian.
The border into Macedonia from the north of Greece is the main crossing into northern Europe. But only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghanis can cross at the moment, putting their passports at a premium on the black market. Registration is done at three camps, by nationality. NonSyrians are taken to the sprawling Moria camp. Since the Paris attacks money has appeared to improve walls and huts. But when I visited, hundreds still slept outside among olive trees, sheltered only by tents donated by Dutch festival-goers.
The flimsy tents stand in ankledeep mud; two blew away as I watched. Irish revellers at Electric Picnic had donated similar tents.
The Migration Minister complained recently that his request for 1,600 extra police was ignored by the EU. Shortages of translators and even passport scanners are cited in local newspapers.
A source familiar with the Greek legal system said refugee lawyers travel to the islands voluntarily but cannot afford to stay long. Their advice is not recognised without authority. Even inside the walled area, people sleep on footpaths and registration queues stretch down the slopes. As darkness falls, I watch a man walk up and down outside selling or buying Syrian identity cards.
A report by EU border agency Frontex warned of ‘a high degree of falsely-claimed nationalities’ among refugees passing through Greece.
Around Mytilene harbour, travel agents offer bus/ferry tickets to the Macedonian border via Athens. Hundreds huddle on the pier, waiting.
Brussels feels very far away. It’s as if this is all happening on the Aran Islands and Galway County Council were picking up the pieces.
A government report found €947,000 spent by the island council just to September. And tourism is dropping, with hotel cancellations up by 30% on last year.
The only hospital is stretched to breaking point, and the morgue has reported being overwhelmed when large boats sink.
Local retiree Angie Bonoparti, 63, spends her days on the beaches.
She said: ‘We are not rich in Mytilene. We have emptied our cupboards. It’s terrible here, it’s terrible what I have seen.’
And she warned: ‘The EU is closing its borders, what are we going to do? They are coming here, and they cannot go back.’
Dr Markus Alt, a Swiss volunteer with the Adventist Help medical bus said: ‘People at home want to donate equipment, and that’s good. But we need cash, and that is the least sexy thing to sponsor. We need to pay a mechanic to fix our bus. We need to get wood to build a roof. That costs money.’
When refugees reach Athens, hundreds stay at a squat run by the Greek Solidarity movement. Thousands more turned back at the Macedonian border now sleep in a former Olympic stadium.
Greek analyst Dimitri Rapidis from think-tank Bridging Europe warned that Jordan and Lebanon cannot take more refugees so
‘Winter hasn’t stemmed the tide of boats’ ‘Lawyers are needed to screen people’
Europe’s burden must increase.
Asked if Greece can process this many people, he said:
‘Not at all. We have a big capacity gap, and that has to be dealt with by the EU. Lawyers, translators are needed to screen people to allow them into Greece, and that is the core of the problem; the funding.
‘Greece cannot do this unless the EU cooperates. At this moment, I feel quite pessimistic.’
Sitting in an Athens café, he said: ‘We don’t expect Ireland to support Greece financially, mainly we demand support from Germany and France.’
More than 5,000 people entered Greece on just one day (December 20) last week, according to the UN.
Mr Rapidis said: ‘We are focused on the Syrians, but what is the plan for the other people?’
And while it was hoped winter winds would lower the numbers arriving from Turkey, NGOs and volunteers now expect the boats to continue.
Knowing how many boats I saw in just a few days, and hearing of people camped along Turkey’s shores waiting to travel, I can only agree and fear the graveyard will continue to fill.