A sea of shame and grief
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has said the deaths of refugees on the shores of the Aegean have made him ashamed to be part of the EU.
In a powerful speech coming at the end of the one of the worst weeks for deaths in the Aegean, the Greek leader said Western countries that took part in military interventions in countries such as Iraq and Syria bore much of the responsibility for the mass exodus of refugees from the Middle East.
At least 50 people drowned trying to cross the sea between Turkey and Greece this week, including many children. On Friday alone, 31 people, including at least 17 children, drowned in two incidents, one near the island of Kalymnos, the other near Rhodes.
On the tiny island of Agathonisi, the body of a boy who had been missing from another sinking on Wednesday was found by a fisherman.
"I want to express ... my endless grief at the dozens of deaths and the human tragedy playing out in our seas," Tsipras told the Greek parliament.
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"The waves of the Aegean are not just washing up dead refugees, dead children, but the very civilisation of Europe."
Tsipras accused countries of blaming each other for the refugee crisis - the worst on the continent since the end of World War 2.
"I feel shamed as a member of this European leadership, both for the inability of Europe in dealing with this human drama, and for the level of debate at a senior level, where one is passing the buck to the other," he said.
"These are hypocritical, crocodile tears which are being shed for the dead children on the shores of the Aegean.
"Dead children always incite sorrow, but what about the children that are alive who come in thousands and are stacked on the streets?"
But humanitarian organisations have accused Tsipras's government of a chaotic, deeply inadequate response to the crisis.
Refugees who reach the Aegean islands by boat are essentially left to fend for themselves.
Millions more flee Syrian hell
Turkey expects at least a million more Syrians to pour across its borders, many of whom could travel on to Europe, after Russia began air strikes in support of the Assad regime.
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A senior Turkish official said Ankara expected the worsening crisis would displace another two million people in northern Syria. At least half were expected to cross into Turkey.
If the coming winter is as harsh as is feared, the number of refugees in Turkey could rise to up to four million - an unprecedented number.
Two million refugees are already in Turkey, many hundreds of thousands of them beginning to head on to Europe as they despair of ever returning home.
Last month, Russia joined the fray, bombing rebel groups opposing the regime of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. Aid agencies have said 120000 more people have been displaced in the provinces at the heart of the bombing campaign - Aleppo, Hama and Idlib.
On Friday in Vienna, where foreign powers involved in the Syrian conflict met for the first time, the US and Russia agreed to work towards a "nationwide cease-fire" between Syria's regime and opposition groups.
The 17 countries meeting included allies of the Assad regime as well as supporters of the rebels.
- ©The Daily Telegraph, London