The Greek government may end up spending $500mn in 2015 trying to contain the refugee crisis. But the EU will reimburse most of the money Greece spends building and maintaining the camps for more than 800,000 refugees that crossed through Greece from Turkey.
The refugee crisis has had dire consequences on tourism with resorts reporting fewer customers, however smaller businesses catering to refugees are reporting sale increases. Lesbos vendors told Al Jazeera that they had higher takings than usual because of the refugees.
Canteens and food vans are the greatest winners. Vasso Koinaki said that hungry refugees have been helping her business with a turnover of 500 euros per day in wintertime when business dropped to 50 euros per day. Furthermore, on some days she noted more than 2,000 euros per day in takings – more than she earned in the summers of time s past when business was good.
Winter months on the island of Lesbos were once quiet, but richer refugees staying at hotels, extra police and aid workers are a windfall for some businesses.
That said, even those with the highest takings as a result of the crisis admit that the loss of human life has touched them and that they want the drowning and refugee flow to end.
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