The Emirati Red Crescent stands ready to provide assistance to Greece in managing the crisis at refugees camps on the Aegean islands, which have recently experienced outbreaks of fires and clashes, Dr. Abdel Karim Bensiali, the international relations adviser with the Emirates Red Crescent, told Sputnik
ABU DHABI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2019) The Emirati Red Crescent stands ready to provide assistance to Greece in managing the crisis at refugees camps on the Aegean islands, which have recently experienced outbreaks of fires and clashes, Dr. Abdel Karim Bensiali, the international relations adviser with the Emirates Red Crescent, told Sputnik.On September 29, migrants set housing containers at the overburdened Moria refugee camp on fire. The incident resulted in clashes between migrants and police, and at least one person died in the fire. Earlier in the week, the Greek island of Samos reportedly endured a night of chaos after a brawl between migrants ended with at least three people being injured. Shortly thereafter, a fire broke out at the Reception and Identification Center on Samos, where most of the migrants were housed.
"I don't think we have moved on this front. There might have been some assistance on the ground, to re-accommodate and provide some shelter [to the refugees]. But should there be a request either from the Greek Red Cross or [from] the [Greek] authorities to our [UAE] authorities here, we will certainly respond. Because for us, it doesn't matter who requests as long as there is a humanitarian need, we would respond," Bensiali said when asked whether the UAE Red Crescent planned to assist Greece in managing the migration crisis on the Aegean islands.
The UAE Red Crescent established and continues to maintain two refugee camps near Athens and closely cooperates with the Greek Red Cross to address the needs of the refugees residing in the country, according to the adviser.
Earlier in the month, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) urged the government of Greece to improve living conditions on the Aegean islands for asylum-seekers from Afghanistan, Syria and other crisis-hit countries. It added that in September, the number of people waiting for asylum on the islands increased to 10,258.
The situation on three islands Lesbos, Samos and Kos is especially critical, according to the UNHCR. The agency urged the Greek authorities to fast-track plans to transfer more than 5,000 asylum-seekers already authorized to continue their asylum procedure to the mainland.
