KOS, Greece (AP) – Dozens of boat people from the Middle East reached the Greek island of Kos from nearby Turkey Wednesday, joining thousands already camped in wretched conditions on what is normally a tourist playground known for its sun and beaches.
Overwhelmed and unprepared for the unprecedented influx, authorities on the eastern Aegean Sea island have been heavily criticized for their treatment of the migrants – mostly refugees from Syria.
At least two rubber boats made landfall just before dawn in the Psalidi coastal area, and dozens of men, women and children set off on the four-kilometer (2.5-mile) trudge to the island capital.
Their first question was where they had landed – which provoked strong laughter as Kos has an obscene meaning in Arabic.
“I feel good to be here, but I still miss my family” in Syria, said Omar Mohammad, a 25-year-old English literature graduate from Aleppo.