The constant influx of refugees and migrants by boat to the shores of Greece's eastern Aegean islands from Turkey continues at an alarming rate this week, with close to 700 people arriving on Lesbos, Chios, and Samos in the past 48 hours.
Greece is set to open two new "transit camps" on the mainland to speed up transfers of migrants and refugees from its islands. The initiative is an attempt to reduce overcrowding in the camps on Lesbos, Chios and Samos.
Two new facilities are set to open soon in a bid to ease the pressure on the overcrowded refugee camps on the north eastern Aegean islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros.
Migrants and refugees on the Greek island of Chios are living in dire conditions. Even though the refugee camp is not as overcrowded as the Moria camp on Lesbos, migrants are also sleeping in tents because all containers in the camp are full. Given the freezing winter temperatures and long waiting times for asylum interviews, they are facing a long and harsh winter.
Hundreds of migrants and refugees, mainly from Afghanistan and Africa, are stuck on Chios island in the Northern Aegean Sea. Local authorities want to close the refugee camp.
Greece is being criticized by human rights groups over the living condition of migrants as it struggles to accommodate a growing number of people entering the country.
In a move designed to decongest its overcrowded island camps, the government in Athens is trying to defuse its migrants emergency - an act that was criticized by humanitarian NGO's. The Greek parliament have approved a new law designed to speed up the country's notoriously slow asylum process for refugees and migrants in an effort to ease the pressure on overcrowded camps on the North Eastern Aegean islands.
Amnesty International in Greece has called migrant camps on Lesvos and Chios ''an open wound'' for the European Union and human rights.
Greece is betting on the quality of its asylum service processes at the first step as it continues to try to deal with a huge backlog of applications from thousands of migrants and refugees stranded on the mainland and the North Eastern Aegean island. The Greek authorities have come under increased pressure from human rights groups and the EU to speed up often lengthy bureaucratic processes which mean asylum applications can take months to complete.
The mayors and residents of Greece's Eastern Aegean islands Lesvos, Chios and Samos descended on Athens on Tuesday and staged a protest outside the Migration Ministry over the state's handling of the ongoing migrant crisis.
A group of 20 human rights organizations led by Human Rights Watch (HRW) made an impassioned plea to the Greek government on Wednesday to begin immediate transfers of migrants stranded overcrowded migrant camps to the mainland to avoid "putting lives at risk" due to worsening weather conditions.
A day of strikes and protests began on Monday on the Greek island of Lesvos, with local authorities shutting down completely to try and deliver a message to the government and beyond about the worsening migrant crisis.