An Even Greater Flood of Refugees Is Building on Greek Island of Lesbos

At first they’re just an orange speck on the horizon, the life jackets of another boatload of refugees coming into view on the grey Aegean Sea. Slowly, the rubber raft bobs closer to shore, its outboard motor barely functioning. The Syrians and Afghans aboard lean forward as though sheer desire might speed their craft’s arrival on the north shore of this Greek island. Finally, the grey dinghy and its 28 passengers land on the rocky shoreline of Lesbos, the gateway for so many desperate and dangerous journeys to Europe. A trio of impatient young men are first off the boat, then volunteer medics waiting on the coast shout for an unconscious woman lying in the middle of the raft to be handed forward. She’s quickly wrapped in a silver thermal blanket and laid down on a flat piece of land, where doctors revive her from apparent shock. She wakes up with a series of deep coughs. Next ashore are a pair of toddlers, both clad in onesies made soggy by the more than six-hour sea journey from Turkey. Then, the rest of the boat’s passengers file off. There are no cries of joy as they come ashore, just a stunned silence at what they all went through…   READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE GLOBE AND MAIL