Freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall are making life even harder for thousands of refugees living in limbo across Greece. Migration Policy Minister Yiannis Mouzalas admitted that the situation on the islands due to the sub-zero temperatures is not acceptable but suggested that the main reason for this is that locals have obstructed plans to expand reception facilities so migrants can be moved out of the hotspots, where some are housed in tents.
"The UN Refugee Agency is today reiterating its call to accelerate the moving of asylum seekers from the Aegean islands to the Greek mainland," spokesman Adrian Edwards said last Friday in Geneva. "The need for better protection will become all the more acute this weekend when temperatures on the islands are expected to drop. We are worried."