Paradise lost

By Johan Persson – The summer with its’ calm waters is here, and so are the overfilled rubber dinghies. In the shadow of the tragic deaths on the Mediterranean outside Italy and Malta, approximately 100 000 migrants have arrived to Greece only this year. At present, an average of 1500 people arrive every day from Turkey to a number of small Greek islands in the Aegean sea – clearly too much for the crisis struck country to handle.They come to tourist destinations such as Kos and Lesbos, which completely lack the infrastructure needed to take care of such large numbers of people in need. The reception centers are overwhelmed or non-existent, local health facilities are strained and there is a lack of housing and transport as well as food and water. The newly arrived migrants squat in closed hotels, on the beach or on the side of the road.