Three million more refugees expected to reach European Union by end of 2017

With 5,000 refugees and migrants expected to arrive in Europe daily in winter, the United Nations refugee agency on Thursday appealed for almost 100 million US dollars to help Greece and countries in the Balkans to cope with the influx.

His words come less than a week after a more strident intervention, in which he accused USA billionaire George Soros of betraying Europe by supporting migrants in a bid to change the character of Europe. “So more people are going to die if we don’t act now”.

Lesbos mayor Spyros Galinos said he would take up the issue with prime minister Alexis Tsipras when he visits the island on Thursday.

Greek ferries are tied up in port for a fourth day, stranding tens of thousands of residents of small islands, preventing agricultural produce from reaching mainland markets and trapping thousands of refugees on eastern Aegean islands. “I think we are battling something which is beyond our abilities, and everyone should understand that”, he said, on a visit to a packed refugee registration centre with Martin Schulz, head of the European Parliament.

Almost 400 refugees and migrants misplaced their lives crossing the Mediterranean in October, and one other 18 died in the primary three days of November, in line with newest knowledge obtainable with the worldwide Organization for Migration. One of the women is pregnant and two of the children are disabled. “We will do our best”, the Prime Minister responded.

Other hard-hit migrant transit and destination countries are likely to see an impact of 0.2 per cent of their GDPs in 2015, but Brussels pointed out that Germany and others would benefit in coming years from a boost in spending and the creation of more jobs.

It is seeking an additional $96.15 million to support Croatia, Greece, Serbia, Slovenia and Macedonia, bringing the total amount that it is trying to raise for Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War Two to $172.7 million.

Tsipras said the families, who were chosen because they were considered vulnerable, were making “a trip to hope”, but warned that they were merely “a drop in the ocean” compared to the hundreds of thousands who had arrived on European shores this year.

In Molyvos, on the Greek island’s north coast, the beaches have become nearly buried under sunken dinghies, inflatibles, clothes, shoes and detritus left by desperate rescue operations.