ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Europe’s top official for migration on Wednesday deplored the plight of thousands of refugees and other migrants in camps on Greece’s eastern Aegean island of Lesbos who face harsh winter conditions.
Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European Union’s commissioner for migration, said solutions must be found immediately.
“We all … have a humanitarian imperative to alleviate the situation here on the islands,” Avramopoulos said during a visit to Lesbos, accompanied by Greece’s migration minister.
“It simply cannot be that refugees are left out in the cold, to brave the worst of winter without a roof over their heads,” Avramopoulos added.
More than 5,000 people live in overcrowded camps on Lesbos, and hundreds had to be evacuated from tents covered by snow during a cold spell this month. Many were transferred to a Greek naval vessel.