Mytilene, Greece: On a rocky beach on the Greek island of Lesbos where the bodies of drowned migrants wash up almost daily, exhausted rescue volunteers hold their heads in despair.
"The situation is crazy," says Essam Daod, a Palestinian doctor working with Israel-based humanitarian agency IsraAid.
"There are thousands of migrants coming every day. We can't handle the situation," says the Haifa resident, who took unpaid leave so he and his wife could come and help out.
Lesbos lies on the frontline of a massive migration wave that has overwhelmed Europe, with over 700,000 people crossing the Mediterranean this year and thousands dying in the attempt.
Pressure on Greece began building in the summer but with the weather now rapidly deteriorating, sailing the Aegean Sea from neighbouring Turkey in ramshackle boats has become even more perilous for entire families fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East.
"The situation is getting worse because of the weather, there are strong winds," says Daod, who helped to save shipwrecked families, mostly Syrian, on the beach of Skala Sykaminias for three weeks.
Over 80 migrants, many them children, have died in Greek waters alone this past month according to an AFP count.
AFP
