Increased pressure on NZ to up refugee quota

A boy wearing a lifejacket looks on as refugees and migrants wait to disembark a Greek Coast Guard vessel at the port of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos (Reuters)
A boy wearing a lifejacket looks on as refugees and migrants wait to disembark a Greek Coast Guard vessel at the port of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos (Reuters)

As Europe embarks on its first major, combined attempt to combat the migrant crisis, New Zealand has been urged to take more refugees.

Hundreds of asylum seekers have been deported from Greece overnight, sent back to Turkey as part of a deal that aims to ease mass migration to Europe.

It is Europe's much-lauded solution to a migrant crisis the likes of which the world has never seen -- refugees deemed illegal, deported at dawn and sent back to Turkey.

Anticipating trouble and violence, one guard was deployed for each of the 202 migrants.

Three boats left all up -- one from Chios, two from nearby Lesbos. The isolated resort island is also Greece's most popular arrival point for fleeing refugees.

The protests were small, but the deportations are roundly criticised by humanitarian groups.

They're the first acts enforcing Turkey's refugee deal with Europe. For every Syrian deported back to Turkey, a Syrian is resettled in Europe.

But only two Syrians were onboard; the overwhelming majority were from Pakistan.

A volunteer-run camp at a beach just minutes from the port is predominantly Pakistani.

The migrants have been through a lot -- weeks and months being smuggled, near drownings, friends dying -- but they do not want to go to Turkey.

"We are not safe in Pakistan, we are not safe in Turkey," they say. "I'm not going to Turkey."

The United Nations says since the EU-Turkey deal was brokered, life has become harder for migrants in Lesbos -- more isolated, more at risk, especially at the island's main refugee centre.

The detention centre at Moria is in lockdown. Most aid agencies have withdrawn or pulled back so as not to be supporting the illegal detention of children and asylum seekers.

Journalists aren't allowed in, but we're told it's overcrowded; people are sleeping outside on the ground, and there's a severe shortage of food.

"This is an era where every country needs to step up," says UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov. "That means increasing resettlement quotas, whether in Europe, North Africa or New Zealand."

New Zealand is reviewing whether to take more refugees, and a decision is due later this year. The pressure, worldwide, is certainly on.

Newshub.