The UNHCR warns Europe is on the cusp of a "self-induced humanitarian crisis."
More migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean into Europe in the first two months of 2016 than the entire first half of the previous year – with at least 2,000 people arriving in Europe every day, according to the UNHCR.
Panayotis Tzamaros / AFP / Getty Images
The UNHCR says up to 131,724 refugees and migrants arriving in Europe in January and February alone, and warns Europe is on the cusp of a "self-induced humanitarian crisis" as countries struggle with the increasing number of arrivals.
The refugee agency said Greece was "already struggling" under the weight of growing numbers of arrivals in the country, and placed partial blame on governments failure to reach agreements on resettlement numbers as well as the introduction of new border restrictions.
"Inconsistent practices are causing unnecessary suffering and risk being at variance with EU and international law standards," UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards said in a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday. "Greece cannot manage this situation alone. It remains absolutely vital therefore that the relocation efforts that Europe agreed to in 2015 are prioritized and implemented."
As of Monday, the number of refugees and migrants in Greece in need of accommodation had reached 24,000, with thousands of people sleeping out in the open in city centres and on the Macedonia-Greece border. The UNHCR said more resources and better coordination are "critical for averting wider suffering and chaos."
Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP / Getty Images
Greek authorities say the thousands of refugees and migrants entering Greece are finding it increasingly difficult to leave and fear thousands of people could be stranded in Greece in the coming weeks as the Macedonia-Greece border tightens.
Yannis Mouzalas, the immigration minister for Greece, told local media on Sunday: "We estimate that we will have a number of people trapped in our country, which will be between 50,000 and 70,000 I believe, in the coming month."
On Monday, refugees pulled down part of a barbed-wire fence in Idomeni on the Greece-Macedonia border using a makeshift battering ram. One witness told BuzzFeed News people had "passed out" because of the use of tear gas to disperse crowds, including children.
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann criticised Greece on Sunday for refusing to grant more people asylum-seeker status, and described the country as "behaving like a travel agency and letting all the migrants through."
Greece hopes NATO's presence on the Mediterranean sea will help manage the number of arrivals in Europe, where at least 410 lives have been lost in 2016 so far. NATO who were requested by Greece, Turkey, and Germany – say they are combating people smuggling and monitoring the flow of refugees and migrants.
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