Migrants on Greek islands amid rats and snakes

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Migrants on Greek islands amid rats and snakes

Author: infomigrants.net | 11 November 2018

Refugees from Afghanistan on Lesbos island, North Aegean Sea, Greece. PHOTO/ARCHIVE/EPA

UNHCR has launched another warning about deteriorating living conditions of migrants on the Greek islands Samos and Lesbos, calling them ''abhorrent''.

Conditions for 11,000 refugees and migrants in the Reception and Identification Centers (RICs) on the Greek islands of Samos and Lesbos are ''abhorrent'', the UN refugee agency UNHCR said in a statement issued on Tuesday. UNHCR said that families lack electricity, running water and functioning toilets, that they live in areas filled with snakes and that uncollected waste has led to a large number of rats. 

Overcrowded centers 

The RICS suffer severe overcrowding. In the one on Samos in Vathy, about 4,000 people are kept, 6 times more than its capacity. On Lesbos, there are 6,500 people, 3 times more than capacity. ''With winter approaching and more people arriving, time is of the essence and emergency measures are needed,'' the statement said. ''Many of the toilets and showers are broken, resulting in open sewage close to people's tents. Others are using nearby bushes as a toilet,'' UNHCR said. Read more>>>