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CORRECTED-(OFFICIAL)-UPDATE 1--Europe on cusp of self-induced humanitarian crisis - UNHCR

Published 2016-03-01, 08:48 a/m
© Reuters. CORRECTED-(OFFICIAL)-UPDATE 1--Europe on cusp of self-induced humanitarian crisis - UNHCR

(In final paragraph, UNHCR corrects refugee figure for first
half of 2015, which is less than, not more than, the number so
far this year)
GENEVA, March 1 (Reuters) - A rapid build-up of migrants at
Greece's northern borders risks creating a humanitarian
disaster, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) said on Tuesday.
The agency called for better planning and accommodation for
at least 24,000 stuck in Greece, including 8,500 at Idomeni
where hundreds of migrants stormed the border on Monday and
Macedonian police fired teargas to disperse them.
"Europe is on the cusp of a largely self-induced
humanitarian crisis", the UN refugee agency's spokesman Adrian
Edwards told a news briefing.
"The crowded conditions are leading to shortages of food,
shelter, water and sanitation. As we all saw yesterday, tensions
have been building, fuelling violence and playing into the hands
of people smugglers," he said.
Migrants have become stranded in Greece country after
Austria and countries along the Balkans migration route imposed
restrictions on their borders, limiting the numbers able to
cross.
The UNHCR also urged all EU member states to reinforce their
capacity to register and process asylum seekers through their
national procedures as well as through the European relocation
scheme.
"Greece cannot manage this situation alone," Edwards said.
Despite commitments to relocate 66,400 refugees from Greece,
states have so far only pledged 1,539 spaces and only 325 people
actually have been relocated, he added.
Some 131,724 refugees have crossed the Mediterranean in
January and February, slightly less than in the first half of
2015, it said. A further 410 have died at sea.

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