'Hell on earth' for refugees stuck in Lesbos

Thousands of migrants have flooded Greek island Lesbos in an attempt to reach the safety of Europe. With more refugees arriving daily, food, water and facilities have become scarce.

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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (Catholic Online) - Thousands gather and form lines to register at the Lesbos Port. Wounded refugees like 2-year-old Lilas, whose arm was burned when her house was bombed, waited in squalor as the lack of food, water and washing facilities combine with terrible heat to transform Losbos into "hell on earth."

Many refugees have been severely wounded and the conditions on Lesbos only continues to worsen. Two-year-old Lilas Khanem suffers from a severe burn from when her Syrian home was bombed.

Her small surgical vest is unbearably itchy in the summer heat and despite the vest's protection, the child's red and raw scars become irritated by the heat resulting in increased pain and irritation.

Her mother Rabab said, "The sun is so hot on her arm. She needs to have a shower to ease the itching ... But here, there are no showers."

Lila's father said, "We just want to get off this island and forget this as soon as possible. There must be something better than this."

The island of Lesbos has accepted over 20,000 refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and the numbers of incoming refugees continues to gain momentum.

Lesbos authorities require each refugee to register and receive official documentation before they can purchase ferry tickets to the mainland and continue their journey to Western Europe.

Unfortunately the registration offices are overcrowded and thousands spend their days in lines under the hot sun and the high humidity of the island. Some collapse from exhaustion and many refuse to leave the line to find a toilet.

Some families have to wait over 11 days for their papers and have been surviving on crackers and soda since they are running out of money.

Hundreds of tents have been raised, but there are still not enough. Some families are forced to sleep on cardboard and many others sleep on nothing but the hard ground. 

Locals are closely watched and if any of them attempt to house or feed a refugee they are classified as human traffickers. They are not even allowed to give the migrants rides to town.

Aid agencies and NGO have been eclipsed by the number of refugees in need. Red Cross' Eva Jodrung said, "When volunteers try to deliver something it's chaos because people are so desperate."

30-year-old Ronny Abti said he had tuberculosis and when his antibiotics ran out he went to a doctor but the Lesbos native refused to help him. Abti said, "He treated me like an animal."

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One woman admitted, "I'm not eating anything and the children are having only milk. I had €500 but we've been here 11 days and spent it all on food and water. When I go to buy the ticket to leave here tomorrow, I have to borrow the money."

The woman's youngest daughter has been forced to wear the same dirty diaper for five days and has a severe diaper rash.

Zacharea Hidawi, a taekwondo teacher from Aleppo told MailOnline, "I did not think Europe would be like this. It's the same as Syria. I wish I stayed there ... I would prefer to be dead in the war instead of this ... I thought the government would help us with food and water."

NGO said, "We are seeing a lot of sunburns, dehydration and exhaustion, infections."

The Greek army agreed to open a former barracks on the island to be an official camp. Greek authorities reported they have screened over 17,000 migrants and most have already boarded ferries.

More screening centers have opened, including a football stadium, and more staff and fingerprinting equipment has been sent to help speed the registration process. 

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