UN agency makes urgent appeal to Greece over migrant centers

ATHENS, Greece – The U.N. refugee agency has made an urgent appeal to Greece to create more reception facilities at a border area with Turkey which has seen a surge in crossings in recent months by asylum-seekers from Syria and Iraq.

The UNHCR on Friday said existing facilities in the Evros border region were overwhelmed after the number of arrivals swelled to 2,900 so far this month. Refugees were crammed into local police stations, often in poor conditions, it said.

Many migrant traffickers have switched routes to the Evros region instead of islands in the eastern Aegean Sea, where most migrants are prevented from traveling to the mainland.

There was no immediate reaction from the government.