Government figures show that 491 refugees have reached the Greek islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos in the space of three days Paula Bronstein/Getty ImagesNearly 200 asylum seekers are landing on Greece’s shores every day in a sudden upsurge prompted by intensifying fighting in Syria. Relief workers have warned that “children, the elderly and the vulnerable” will die this winter as the situation for migrants in Greece deteriorates. The rise in numbers has also posed a fresh challenge to the European Union’s controversial deal with Turkey to stem the torrent of illegal crossings and has left Greece struggling to quell violent protests by sympathisers of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party. Government figures released yesterday showed that 491 refugees had reached the islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos in the past three days alone, 25 per cent more than in the whole of last week and more than half of…

Source: The Times November 23, 2016 00:01 UTC