The leftist Greek government on Tuesday hastily announced the dispatch of a military vessel to the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos to host Mideast refugees and irregular migrants currently sheltered in tents amid sub-zero temperatures on the isle.
Lesvos, also known as Mytilene, is hosting the largest number of third country nationals in Greece that were ferried from the opposite Turkish coast during the height of the roughly two-year refugee/migrant crisis that hit the eastern Aegean.
Bitter winter weather, replete with a rare heavy snow storm, meant that hundreds of people were camped out in unsuitable tents and infrastructure, a development that generated heightened international and domestic criticism for the already embattled Tsipras government.
The announcement of the vessel’s dispatch to the island, in fact, was announced by the prime minister’s office, which issued a press release citing Alexis Tsipras’ personal intervention to host as many of the third country nationals as possible on the fully-equipped ship.
