From "The New York Times Magazine"

Scenes From a Human Flood


Photographs by PAOLO PELLEGRIN UPDATED September 15, 2015

On the Greek island of Lesbos, this summer’s refugee crisis shows no signs of abating.
Photo


Refugees waiting to register outside a police booth in Mytilini, the capital city of the Greek island Lesbos.


For the past several weeks, the world’s attention has been riveted by the spectacle of migrants and refugees from Africa and the Middle East making their way across Europe. A principal entry point has been the Greek island of Lesbos, close to the Turkish mainland. Since the beginning of this summer, tens of thousands of migrants — some 70 percent of them Syrians — have braved the six-mile crossing from Turkey by crowding into tiny fishing boats or inflatable rafts. For this voyage, the migrants pay their smugglers an average of $1,500 per person — a bit more if they want the security of a life preserver.

This human flood has thoroughly overwhelmed local authorities, as well as the island’s already rudimentary social-services network. When Paolo Pellegrin visited Lesbos in early September, as many as 20,000 migrants were waiting for the registration papers that would allow them to continue their journey to the European mainland, a once-quick process that can now take as long as two weeks. As they wait, many of the migrants sleep in municipal parks or vacant lots or along the island’s tourist-filled promenades, without access to toilets or running water.

While the wait has led to frayed tempers among both the arrivals and Greek authorities, there is also growing tension among different groups of migrants. Much of that rancor has been directed at the Syrians, who others contend receive preferential treatment. Early this month, Pellegrin was witness to a melee between Afghan and Syrian migrants that was finally broken up by plainclothes police officers wielding batons.

European countries have grappled with the migrant crisis in a variety of ways, from adopting more liberal asylum policies in nations like Germany and France to building fences topped with concertina wire in Hungary and Bulgaria. In just the past few days, some nations have tried to address “Europe’s shame” by making the migrants’ journey across the continent more orderly and humane, with feeding stations erected in train terminals and buses brought in where families formerly had to walk. Others have only increased their callousness.

If the past is any guide, the grim situation in places like Lesbos is unlikely to improve until mid-October. That is when crossing the Mediterranean, a notoriously unpredictable sea at the best of times, becomes too treacherous for all but the most determined or desperate. The island’s respite will almost surely be short-lived, however; most all those involved with the migrant issue predict even greater numbers to make the crossing next year. Scott Anderson