Greek island stabbings raise UN fears over EU migrant deportation deal

Three migrants were stabbed on the Greek islands of Lesbos and Samos on Thursday night, deepening UN concerns over the viability of the controversial EU-Turkey to deport thousands of illegal immigrants back to Turkey.

The United Nations repeated its demands for legal safeguards to be put in place before refugees are returned to Turkey warning that conditions in Greece - where more than 5,000 refugees are now corralled in holding camps on the Greek islands - are rapidly deteriorating.

Migrants pass a banner in a makeshift refugee camp in Idomeni CREDIT: AP

"The risk of panic and injury in these sites and others is real," said Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told a Geneva news briefing. "This is in light of continued serious gaps in both countries."

She singled out the islands of Lesbos and Samos, the Athens port of Piraeus and the unofficial refugee encampment at Idomeni on Greece's border with Macedonia as areas of particular concern.

Migrants and refugees arrive at the port of Mytilen CREDIT: EPA

A total of around 51,000 refugees and migrants are now stuck in Greece following this month's closure of the so-called Balkan route, with arrivals more than doubling on Tuesday to 766 from previous days, according to UNHCR figures.

The first wave of deportations under the EU-Turkey deal are due to begin on Monday, with the EU border agency Frontex in charge of chartering transport to return the first wave of Syrians, Afghans and Pakistanis back to Turkey.

A total of around 51,000 refugees and migrants are now stuck in Greece CREDIT: AP

The UNHCR and several international NGOs have voiced real concernsand withdrawn any support for the scheme which they argue rides roughshod over legal obligation enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention.

The UNHCR repeated its demands for all refugee to be given adequate legal protections and have the right appeal rejected asylum claims in Greece.

"The EU must provided greater support, as promised, to boost Greece's creaking asylum system, she said. "Limited hours of registration, daily ceilings on registrations, a lack of access to the Skype system for registration set up by the Asylum Services, are at present adding to the anxiety", the agency said.