- Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GREECE-LESBOS More refugee boats arrive on Greece's Lesbos island
- Date: 11th September 2015
- Summary: LESBOS, GREECE (SEPTEMBER 10, 2015) (REUTERS) DINGHY WITH REFUGEES ON BOARD ARRIVING / MAN ON SHORE WAVING AT THEM BOAT APPROACHING SHORE / REFUGEES CHEERING REFUGEES GETTING OUT OF BOAT MEN CARRYING CHILDREN OUT OF BOAT MAN CARRYING YOUNG CHILD OUT OF BOAT WOMAN TAKING LIFE JACKET OFF HER DAUGHTER AND HUGGING HER VARIOUS OF CHILDREN SITTING ON THE SHORE AND EATING VARIOUS OF SYRIAN FAMILY FROM KOBANE, WOMAN HOLDING BABY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED SYRIAN REFUGEE FROM KOBANE, SAYING: "(We left) because of the war in Syria, because of the destruction and ruin. That's all." REFUGEE GROUP / LIFE JACKETS ON BEACH REFUGEES WEARING LIFE JACKETS AT THE SHORE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN REFUGEE WITH HIS SEVEN-MONTH PREGNANT WIFE FROM KOBANE, SAYING: "We left because of oppression, of humiliation, and because we saw death with our own eyes." REFUGEES STARTING TO LEAVE THE SHORE ANOTHER DINGHY ARRIVING REFUGEES GETTING OUT OF DINGHY KARA TEPE CAMP PEOPLE SITTING IN FRONT OF TENT IN KARA TEPE CAMP FAMILY SITTING UNDER TENT WOMAN AND GIRLS WASHING CLOTHES WOMEN SITTING WITH CHILDREN ON GROUND VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT CAMP HUSSEIN AND ALI WASHING CLOTHES IN CAMP (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN REFUGEES FROM DAMASCUS, HUSSEIN AND ALI, SAYING: HUSSEIN: "(I am looking for) a better life, a future, I believe that I will have a future. There is no life in Syria." ALI: "We are in Europe to get away from the armed regime. We are against the use of weapons, we are against the armed regime. That's all." VARIOUS OF ROUADA'S FAMILY IN KARA TEPE CAMP PREPARING THEIR BELONGINGS BEFORE LEAVING THE CAMP TO TAKE BOAT TO PIRAEUS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN REFUGEE, ROUADA, SAYING: "We want them (European authorities) to make our journey easier. It's exhausting, extremely tiring: the walking, the sea, the fear, the danger. It is not easy at all. As I said, we are making this journey because we are looking for security, a better life, a future." FOREIGN VOLUNTEERS GIVING FOOD ITEMS TO SYRIAN REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS IN KARA TEPE CAMP PEOPLE WALKING INSIDE CAMP
- Embargoed: 26th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Greece
- Country: Greece
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVABPDJ3980BVNDVWP0XYC52683N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Migrants and refugees continued to arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos on Thursday (September 10), saying they were fleeing their war-torn homelands and turning to the EU for help.
Lesbos and other eastern Aegean islands have been overwhelmed by an unprecedented wave of people fleeing conflict zones, chiefly in the Middle East.
Aid agencies estimate more than 2000 migrants on rubber dinghies have crossed the narrow sea passage every day in the last two months.
Several Syrian refugees arriving on shore said they had left due to the conflict back home.
"(We left) because of the war in Syria, because of the destruction and ruin," said one man, standing beside his wife and baby.
"We left because of oppression, of humiliation, and because we saw death with our own eyes," said another man.
In recent weeks, tensions have flared on the islands of Lesbos and Kos, short boat journeys from Turkey where there are some two million Syrian refugees.
The International Rescue Committee said protests on the streets of Lesbos were putting the lives and safety of refugees stranded on the island at risk.
They said many refugees had been stuck on the island for weeks, people were sleeping rough and hygiene was rapidly declining.
Despite the conditions, Syrian refugees at the island's Kara Tepe camp said they felt they had had no choice but to leave their home country.
"(I am looking for) a better life, a future, I believe that I will have a future. There is no life in Syria," said Hussein.
The vast majority of those arriving in Greece are hoping to move on to other European countries and, once disembarked, almost immediately head north, creating a bottleneck at the border with Macedonia.
Even after passing through Macedonia, migrants face further difficulties in passing the borders of Hungary, as the central European country is building a fence along its southern border with Serbia, which it says is necessary to protect the EU's passport-free Schengen zone.
Migrants on Lesbos said their journeys had been difficult enough already.
"We want them (European authorities) to make our journey easier. It's exhausting, extremely tiring: the walking, the sea, the fear, the danger. It is not easy at all. As I said, we are making this journey because we are looking for security, a better life, a future," said Rouada, a refugee from Syria, as she packed her bags to leave the camp and catch the next ferry to the Greek mainland.
Coping with an economy already stretched close to breaking point, Greek authorities this week asked the European Union to help tackle the crisis on Lesbos by activating its crisis-response body to provide staff, medical and pharmaceutical supplies, clothes and equipment. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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