<>The New York Times is reporting that Greek Islands are being overwhelmed by migrant arrivals – and most recently, a large part of these are unaccompanied minors. The tiny island of Leros is waiting for the declaration of a state of emergency, after 200 migrants were picked up by the coast guard over the last few days.
While a number of these launched political asylum claims and others were sent back under existing procedures, the new wave of child migrants is raising new questions for local officials: "The problem now is who takes care of the minors," said Chrysoula Sifouniou, deputy prefect of the Dodecanese, a group of islands dotting the Aegean's southeast flank near the Turkish coast. "We don't have the infrastructure to cope with them, not even a single reception center for them. There's no state plan or strategy in place to deal with these cases."
"This is a new trend we've noticed in recent months," Ms. Sifouniou said. "It has left us baffled and confused, because we neither have the expertise nor the infrastructure to deal with this problem on a local level."
Concerned islanders and church officials have offered to aid the children, and some hotel owners have offered to house them.
<>The United Nations has already criticized Greece's policy of dealing with new arrivals and now state officials are calling for additional help from the European Union. We will follow this story as it develops further.
