By Daniel Flynn
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece is locking hundreds of migrantsin an overcrowded centre on the Mediterranean island of Lesboswithout proper sanitation and medical care in what Frenchcharity Medicins Sans Frontiers branded a "humanitariancrisis".
The migrants, most of them from war-torn Afghanistan, arekept in rooms clogged with stagnant water and only allowedoutside for half an hour every couple of days, said YiorgosKarayiannis, head of MSF Greece's migrant assistance programme.
With some migrants suffering from tuberculosis and skindiseases, there is a risk of contagion and only one doctor wasworking at the camp, without a translator, MSF said, adding itsstaff was not being permitted regular access to providehealthcare.
"The situation is horrible from a medical point of view,"Karayiannis told Reuters on Monday. "This is an urgenthumanitarian crisis."
The Greek government was not immediately available tocomment.
The number of the people at the camp has risen from 150 inearly June to around 800 at present, Karayiannis said, as calmseas encouraged a deluge of would-be migrants to set off inboats from the nearby coast of Turkey or North Africa.
Greece is on the frontline of the European Union's fightagainst illegal migration. Its 14,900-kilometres (9,258 miles)of poorly patrolled Mediterranean coastline offers a temptingtarget for migrants from Iraq and Palestine, Somalia, Pakistanand Afghanistan.
Despite the rising numbers at Lesbos, Greece's conservativeNew Democracy government has not improved facilities, aidworkers say.
MSF has been working at the Lesbos camp for two months,providing some medical attention and constructing toilets andshower facilities. Most of the migrants are young men but thereare also some women and children, Karayiannis said.
An estimated 800,000 Albanians have also emigrated toGreece in search of better-paid work. Prime Minister CostasKaramanlis has called for more EU cooperation in fightingimmigration.
Migrants are held at the Lesbos centre -- one of six suchsites in Greece -- for up to three months before being givenone month to leave the country.
Some drift to Athens, but most use Greece as a springboardto reach richer European countries like Italy, Karayiannissaid.
A French plan to boost immigration patrols and expel moremigrants from the 27-nation bloc, while promoting legalmigration and a common asylum policy, is expected to beapproved by mid-October.
"European policy is mainly to guarantee high standards ofpreventing immigration, but people arriving need to have betterfacilities available to them and a better future," he said.
(Editing by Mary Gabriel)
