By Nikos Xydakis

The difference of opinion between citizens and governments expressed at the UN Global Forum on Migration and Development this week highlights the complexity of the issue as well as Greece’s dire position today.

As a gateway and transit point for thousands of migrants from countries experiencing humanitarian crises, Greece is bearing the brunt of a global problem more heavily than any other country in the European Union. Countries at war, where the humanitarian situation is near collapse, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia, are pushing waves of humanity to the West, which infiltrate Greece’s 17,000-kilometer coastal borders. Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis is largely due to peripheral wars in which the United States and its NATO allies are heavily involved.

No European country wants hordes of migrants coming through its borders unchecked on a daily basis. Yet the cost of the crisis is not being equally shared among EU members. For Greece, the price is very high indeed, as it is already a transit point, is facing great difficulties managing the problem and is at risk of becoming one vast migrant camp. The EU cannot limit the assistance it offers on this matter by contributing only to Frontex and a small trickle of funds. It needs a radical change of strategy, and possibly a review of the Dublin II Regulation, as well as offering financial assistance to the countries of origin, creating disincentives for migration and forcing Turkey to cooperate fully.

By trapping this global issue in the gateway of the Aegean, the EU is turning Greece into a temporary dumping ground for second-class citizens. This is not something that can be dealt with by taking police or administrative measures, because Greece is objectively unable to handle such a volume of humanity. If the country is turned into little else than a camp where migrants are concentrated, categorized and then sent off in different directions, the moral and psychological cost will be incalculable.