UNHCR: Overcrowded Greek refugee camps ill-prepared for winter

Greece must speed up winter preparations at refugee camps on islands in the Aegean Sea where there has been a sharp rise in arrivals, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday.

Nearly 5,000 refugees, mostly Syrian or Iraqi families, crossed from Turkey in September - a quarter of all arrivals this year, UNHCR data shows.

While that is a fraction of the nearly 1 million who arrived in 2015 - due to a European Union deal with Turkey to block that route - four of the five island camps are hosting two or three times as many people as they were designed for.

"UNHCR urges action on the islands to ease overcrowding, improve shelter, and stock and distribute appropriate and sufficient aid items," said Philippe Leclerc, UNHCR representative in Greece.

In the Moria camp on the island of Lesvos, one of the main entry points, more than 1,500 people are in...