Migrant crisis: Are these happy young men really timid souls fleeing war and persecution?
THEY aren’t quite the heartrending image of dishevelled, traumatised refugees fleeing the horrors of their war-torn home country one might expect.
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ANADOLUThe well-dressed, happy and confident looking group of men, ready to claim EU asylum on the island of Lesbos, serves as a remarkable counter image to last week’s heart-breaking photograph of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi whose body was washed up on a Mediterranean beach.
One of the Syrian men holds up 'selfie stick' to capture the moment he and his friends arrived in Lesbos - one of the two Greek Islands bearing the brunt of the mass exodus of refugees and migrants.
A series of photos captured by a photographer on the island show the group of young men doing the two-fingered peace sign and grinning with joy after making the treacherous journey on a rubber boat.
AP The last few days has seen a worsening situation in Lesbos, where violent clashes between police and frenzied crowds waiting to board ferries to Athens erupted.
Some collapsed, while frightened children screamed in their mother's arms.
The Mayor of Lesbos pleaded for help from the country's Government, likening the escalating situation to a bomb "about to explode".
Sypros Galinos said: "I appeal to the prime minister for immediate measures. We all have victims."
Athens has so far chartered just two ferries to transport refugees off of the island.
But Mr Galinos added: "I don't need one ship, I need a fleet."
REUTERSThe Greek coastguard sad it saved more than 500 people from the water in just 24 hours on Friday, with scores more expected.
And in complete contrast, thousands arrived in Germany on trains from Hungary and Austria after being invited to settle in the country by Chancellor Angela Merkel.
However Hungary's Prime Minister Vitkor Orban accused the migrants of targeting Germany for "a German life", instead of physical safety away from war-ravaged countries.
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REUTERSMr Orban said: "If they want to continue on from Hungary, it's not because they are in danger, it's because they want something else."
The right-wing leader, who has attracted praise and opprobrium for his hardline handling of Europe's immigration crisis, defended a controversial package of measures that would include deploying the army to the frontier.
The prime minister said he hoped this would "hermetically seal" the country's southern border.
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