Meanwhile, tens of thousands of migrants are stranded on the Greek island of Lesbos, as the flood of people fleeing to southern Europe from Syria, Afghanistan and other war-torn regions continues. On Lesbos, the migrants are living in camps lacking basic sanitation and in two small detention centers that are currently at 10 times their capacity. The migrants have decried the conditions.

Syrian migrant Ahmed: “We run from the death, to the death. We find death at each step in our way. We ran from the death in our country to find death in the sea, and we ran from the death in the sea to find it here in the camp.”

The town officials, however, have said that they are unable to address the situation, especially given the country’s ongoing financial turmoil.

Mayor Spyros Galinos: “It’s as if the international community, the European Union, the Red Cross, the U.N., have given me a bomb to hold in my hands, and the fuse is burning very slowly, and I am desperately crying for help to blow out the fuse, but they are waiting for the bomb to explode before coming to our aid.”