Flu cases rife at migrant camps on islands

Although large numbers of refugees have been transferred to reception facilities on the mainland from overcrowded camps in the Aegean in recent days, hundreds more remain on the islands with a new cold snap expected later this week.

According to sources, there has been an increase in cases of flu at overflowing island camps where many migrants are forced to sleep in tents outdoors. Shortages in medicines at the island facilities compound the problem.

Plans are afoot to overhaul the main migrant reception center at Moria on Lesvos, which was seriously damaged by fire and rioting last year, and where overcrowding is acute.

Due to the lack of space, police precincts are being used to accommodate migrants, but a spokesman for the local police union said this was not a solution. "The situation in the cells has been suffocating for months now," Dimitris Alexiou told...