Migrant rights groups ring alarm over approaching winter

With winter fast approaching and migrant camps on the Greek islands reaching breaking point due to overcrowding, 20 human rights group have written a letter to the Greek government calling for immediate action.

Greece should act to end a "containment policy" that forces asylum seekers arriving on the Greek islands to remain in overcrowded and unsafe facilities, the human rights and aid groups said in the letter, 19 months after a similar open letter to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged the government to move migrants to the mainland, where better conditions and services are available.

"This remains a matter of life and death," the International Rescue Committee's country director in Greece, Jana Frey, said. "There is absolutely no excuse for the conditions on the islands right now - thousands of people crammed into overcrowded and desperately under-resourced...