More than 70,000 refugees have arrived in Greece by sea, since the beginning of the year, according to the UN refugee agency, 60% of who are from Syria, while others come from Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea and Somalia.

"Greece's volatile economic situation, combined with the increasing numbers of new arrivals, is putting severe strain on small island communities, which lack the basic infrastructure and services to adequately respond to the growing humanitarian needs," UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler told a press briefing in Geneva, adding that "an urgent response from Europe is needed before the situation deteriorates further."

Echoing the same concerns, Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees Volker Turk has also underlined that the Greek asylum system has reached its limit, in an interview with Austrian newspaper Der Standard.

UN concerns coincide with EU ministers’ failure to reach consensus regarding the relocation of 40,000 asylum-seekers currently located in Greece and Italy, among the bloc’s 28 members, in line with a blueprint laid out in June. It is noted that European ministers have so far agreed on how to resettle 32,000 of applicants, including 354 in Greece.

See also: UNHCR: 2015 UNHCR subregional operations profile - Northern, Western, Central and Southern Europe