Turmoil Breaks Out As Greece Struggles To Cope With Migrant Crisis

Chaos erupted on Tuesday in a sports stadium on the Greek island of Kos, where hundreds of migrants had gathered to register for immigration documents.  

Scuffles broke out as hundreds of migrants camping out in parks and squares in Kos town formed long lines at the stadium to register with authorities. 

Photos and video taken on Tuesday appear to show officers using batons and fire extinguishers to disperse the crowd after fights broke out. It is unclear why the violence erupted, Reuters reports. 

The humanitarian crisis on the Greek islands has grown increasingly dire this year as a record number of migrants have arrived on the country's shores. 

Some 124,000 new migrant arrivals to Greece were reported between January and the end of July, mostly through the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Kos, Samos and Leros, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Fifty thousand new arrivals were reported in July alone, an increase of almost 70 percent from the previous month.

The majority of migrants are refugees fleeing the wars in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. They arrive on the coast from nearby Turkey and make their way to the islands' main towns to register with authorities. 

Many of them arrive with little or nothing and are in dire need of medical and material assistance, UNHCR says. But most of them end up living on the streets or in makeshift camps without access to adequate sanitary facilities or medical care before receiving their immigration papers. 

Greece's cash-strapped government has made it clear it lacks the means to cope with registrations and provide the migrants with assistance. 

"We want papers, we want to eat," migrants chanted on Tuesday as they blocked one of Kos' main coastal roads and demanded a quick registration, The Associated Press reports.

"The level of suffering we have seen on the islands is unbearable. People arrive thinking they are in the European Union. What we have seen was not anything acceptable in terms of standards of treatment," Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR director for Europe, said after a visit to the islands last week.  

The island's police and coast guard are unable to handle the large influx of arrivals, Kos Mayor Yorgos Kyritsis said on Tuesday.

"This situation on the island is out of control," Kyritsis said, according to Reuters. "There is a real danger of uncontrollable situations. Blood will be shed."

Footage showing a police officer on the island wielding a knife and slapping a migrant emerged on Monday. The officer was suspended.  

Aid agencies have called on the Greek government to intensify its response and urged the European Union to step in. 

The European Commission approved a $2.6 billion aid package for the crisis, including more than $520 million for Greece.

• Policemen try to disperse hundreds of migrants by spraying them with fire extinguishers during a registration procedure at the stadium of Kos town, on the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015. 

• A migrant hands over a loudspeaker to another as hundreds gather for a registration procedure at the stadium of Kos town. 

• Policemen on the island of Kos try to disperse hundreds of migrants by spraying them with fire extinguishers. 

• A policeman on the island of Kos tries to disperse hundreds of migrants by spraying them with a fire extinguisher. 

• A policeman on the island of Kos confronts a migrant with a truncheon. 

• Policemen on the island of Kos try to disperse hundreds of migrants by spraying them with fire extinguishers during a gathering for a registration procedure at the stadium on the Greek island of Kos, on August 11, 2015. 

• Migrants wait for a registration procedure at the stadium on the island of Kos, on August 11, 2015. 

• Policemen on the island of Kos try to disperse hundreds of migrants by spraying them with fire extinguishers. 

• A policeman in plain clothes hits a migrant on the island of Kos, as another sprays a fire extinguisher in an attempt to disperse hundreds of migrants.