Today in Lesvos

The beaches of Lesvos are strewn with hundreds of bright orange life jackets and deflated rubber boats, soaked shoes and pieces of clothing. Our visit was early this rainy morning and 1050 people had arrived overnight. Volunteers helped them to an assembly point nearby, where they found food and a warm place to sleep in a large UNHCR shelter.

UNHCR has deployed an emergency team to Greece and now has some 120 staff in the country to support the government in its effort to address the continuing crisis. The island of Lesbos, with a population of 95,000 people, has received over 220,000 people in nine months - 160,000 in September alone. The majority of the refugees and migrants arriving on Lesbos are from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The rest, about 5%, are migrants and refugees from about 20 countries as varied as India, Bangladesh, Togo, Niger, Columbia, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. All of them move on to Athens and most continue on a difficult trek to other countries in Europe.