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UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Friday said that up to seven people -- four of them children -- have been killed in a collision between a smuggling boat and a Greek Coast Guard vessel off the island of Lesvos, a UN spokesman told reporters here.
In a separate incident, UNHCR staff had to be evacuated from a crowded registration site after violence flared up Thursday as frustration among refugees and migrants boiled over, said Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, at a daily news briefing here.
"These events took place amid the continuing arrival of thousands of refugees and migrants by sea from Turkey, which has increased pressure on the government's already overstretched reception and registration facilities on the island," Haq said.
He quoted the UNHCR source as saying that both incidents underscore once again the urgent need to rapidly establish proper reception facilities in Greece for receiving, assisting, registering and screening all new arrivals.
The Greek Coast Guard patrol vessel and the fishing boat, which was carrying 38 people, collided off the Lesvos Island's northwestern coastal town of Molyvos. Seven bodies were recovered, and 31 people were rescued.
As many as 85 boats landed on the island of Lesvos Wednesday, mainly along its northern shore where the channel separating Greece from Turkey is only about 10 kilometers. At present there are around 3,500-4,000 people on the north coast of the island.
In a visit to Greece earlier this week, UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres said it was essential that the country receive support from the European Union for reception, registration and screening processes.
Guterres has also urged governments to put in place more systems so that people can come to Europe legally and not resort to smugglers and other irregular routes.
