August 12, 2015

Migrants locked in Greek stadium overnight

located:	Greece
editor:	Vanessa Ellingham

More than a thousand refugees are currently locked inside a stadium on the Greek island of Kos as authorities there struggle to process the vast numbers.

The refugees, mostly Syrian and Afghan, need to be registered before they can move further on to other parts of Europe.

In an attempt to maintain order, the police used a sonic explosion, as well as fire extinguishers, to try to control the crowd which is not only distressed but also lacking food and water.

Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), there to provide medical care, reported refugees fainting from heatstroke after spending many hours waiting in the sun.

The tension became so great in the stadium last night that the MSF team chose to withdraw at one point, returning this morning to find the refugees still locked inside the stadium awaiting processing.

Julia Kourafa, a spokeswoman for MSF at the stadium, said: “It was becoming a bit uncontrollable, the situation, and there was a complete lack of coordination. It was just the police there, no UNHCR [the UN’s refugee agency], and no security for [our] team.”

Kourafa added: “This is the first time we’ve seen this in Greece – people locked inside a stadium and controlled by riot police. We’re talking about mothers with children and elderly people. They’ve been locked in there after many hours in the sun.”

This year more than 120,000 refugees have arrived in Greece – up from about 30,000 for the whole of last year. The Greek islands are currently the main point of entry for migrants attempting to reach Europe by boat.

Read more on fairplanet's dossier ESCAPE