A luxury cruise ship which recently made port at the Greek island of Mytilene presented nothing short of a miracle for migrants and refugees who now call the port their home. So shocked was the captain of the Nieuw Amsterdam by what he witnessed in the port, he gave an unprecedented order to transfer goods from his ship to the refugees.
While Greeks may have grown used to migrants living in severe impoverishment, foreigners are not adapted to such images.
On October 9 the luxury cruise ship Nieuw Amsterdam arrived in Mytilene bearing 3,000 passengers. All were purportedly stunned by the sad sight of the island’s port.
The captain and the crew took the initiative of providing large quantities of clothing and food for the relief of the refugees.
The incident shows just how dire the situation on the Greek island of Mytilene has become. A purported 320 homeless migrants and refugees are now said to be living in the port.
Upon arrival, the Dutch captain van der Meier inquired about the situation from a local travel agent. When told that the migrants and refugees were forced to live in the port due to impoverishment, the captain decided to act. He and his crew gathered spare clothes and food from the ship and began handing them out.
As the situation in Mytilene worsens every day, the officers of the Central Port Authority seem incapable of finding a solution to the problem.
The charity of the Nieuw Amsterdam seems to have made a difference, however. Long-delayed procedures to open a migrant detention center in Moria have been accelerated as of this week. Some people believe that it will be up and running by mid-October.
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