ATHENS: A rash of refugees from Africa, southern Asia and the Middle East has been crossing the Aegean Sea and besieging a cluster of craggy Greek islands. Local officials have called for the central government to declare a state of emergency on the tiny island of Leros, after the Greek coast guard picked up more than 200 refugees, half of them minors, over the weekend. The immigrants, Pakistanis, Ethiopians, Iraqis and Somalis, said they had reached Greece by boat from Turkey. Some were sent to reception centers across the country, while others were released after requesting political asylum, the authorities said.
ATHENS: A rash of refugees from Africa, southern Asia and the Middle East has been crossing the Aegean Sea and besieging a cluster of craggy Greek islands.
Local officials have called for the central government to declare a state of emergency on the tiny island of Leros, after the Greek coast guard picked up more than 200 refugees, half of them minors, over the weekend.
The immigrants, Pakistanis, Ethiopians, Iraqis and Somalis, said they had reached Greece by boat from Turkey.
Some were sent to reception centers across the country, while others were released after requesting political asylum, the authorities said.
Re, Greece, I will note the closing two paragraphs of the story:
Criticism of Greece was already mounting for its treatment of immigrants and for turning down applicants for political asylum. Last month, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said the Greek system was so flawed that other European countries should not return asylum seekers to Greece. Officials in Athens have denied the United Nations accusations, contending that Greece, one of the European Union's smallest and poorest nations, should not be saddled with the union's immigration responsibilities.
Officials in Athens have denied the United Nations accusations, contending that Greece, one of the European Union's smallest and poorest nations, should not be saddled with the union's immigration responsibilities.
