Refugee crisis

Something has obviously gone terribly wrong in Greece's handling of the refugee crisis. The country has gone from Nobel nominations for its response to being pilloried on an international scale over the inhuman conditions that prevail at migrant reception centers on the islands.

As Greece struggles with a continuing influx of undocumented migrants from both its land and sea borders, Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas indicated Thursday that authorities will seek a country alliance at the next European Union summit on the refugee crisis.

The people of the Greek island of Lesvos are poised to receive the inaugural John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service for their response to the refugee crisis, Politico has reported.

According to its daily briefing, the American news site said that the announcement was made by Cindy McCain, the widow of the respected US statesman who died on August 25.

Greek authorities are planning the transfer of thousands of migrants from overcrowded facilities on the Aegean islands to centers on the mainland, sources said on Wednesday as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras held talks with visiting European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos about a new burgeoning refugee crisis. 

The government is planning an overhaul of its management of the refugee crisis, both on an administrative and budgetary level, Kathimerini has learned, while Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas Wednesday indicated that Greece was open to bilateral discussions about the crisis.

Speaking to the German newspaper Bild, he said Albania "will not build refugee centres, even in exchange for EU accession ... The refugee crisis must be solved independently of the current state of our accession efforts."

The three-day WARM Festival in Sarajevo is exhibiting photographs and screening films about wars throughout the world and the issues of ethnic divisions, the refugee crisis and discrimination against minorities.

British singer and actor Sting called world leaders "half men and cowards" on Saturday for their inability to solve the refugee crisis.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has already played down expectations of a breakthrough at hastily-arranged talks among EU leaders on Sunday on the migration dispute dividing Europe and threatening her own government.

ONENEWSNOW - After pushing countries on the continent for years to accept migrants in the midst of the refugee crisis, the leftist European Union (EU) is finally committed to curb immigration and the problems that come with it by pushing to start screening centers in Africa to decrease sea crossings.

The Flux Laboratory, in cooperation with the Greek government and the Swiss Embassy in Athens, has organized an exhibition of portraits of refugees by renowned photographer Mark Henley, marking World Refugee Day on June 20. Henley has twice won the Swiss Photographer of the Year award with work focusing on issues varying from banking to the Iran nuclear negotiations.