Arriving on the Greek island of Lesbos, tourists come to soak up the sun and relax in beautiful surroundings, but these holiday makers are not coming
ADVERTISEMENTArriving on the Greek island of Lesbos, tourists come to soak up the sun and relax in beautiful surroundings, but these holiday makers are not coming empty handed.
They are bringing extras clothes, shoes even blankets to help the growing number of refugees who have fled war and poverty to get here.
Int'l aid worker
theIRC</a>: "shocking & unimaginable scenes" in Greek Island <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/refugee?src=hash">#refugee</a> crisis <a href="http://t.co/khQv7jv0ZG">http://t.co/khQv7jv0ZG</a> <a href="http://t.co/zcCu5QfFAi">pic.twitter.com/zcCu5QfFAi</a></p>— Gerry Simpson (GerrySimpsonHRW) July 20, 2015
“It’s clothes, shoes, scarves and hats for many of the boat refugees arriving here,” says Anne Mette Harpelund and her friend .
They’ve been encouraged to come by a travel agency which is offering tourists an extra 20 kilos of luggage free if they use it to bring necessities to refugees. They’ve collected clothes with the help of friends and family .
The initiative is gaining support on social media.
Travel agents such as Jonas Madsen,then take the aid to the refugee centres.
“ Even though we have a larger car than normal today we will still need to do two runs to deliver all the stuff. It’s amazing that we have received this much.”
I am back in the UK now but the nightmare still continues for the refugees arriving in Lesvos
refugees</a> <a href="http://t.co/XJ6CLNigAt">http://t.co/XJ6CLNigAt</a></p>— David Morrissey (davemorrissey64) July 22, 2015
With record numbers of refugees continuing to arrive in rubber dinghies and wooden boats on Lesbos, the island’s capacity, services and resources are under strain.
At present, there are around 2,500 waiting for registration by the authorities.