The number of unaccompanied refugee children arriving in Greece from Turkey rose dramatically in the first quarter of 2016 compared to 2015, according to Hellenic Coast Guard’s report.

The head of the Hellenic Coast Guard’s personnel union federation (POEPLS) Thanos Tsatsoulis described in a press conference on Tuesday what coast guard has to face every day.

Mr. Tsatsoulis said that 537 unaccompanied minors up to the age of 13 had arrived on the Greek island of Lesvos in the first three months of the year, compared to a total of 750 in 500,000 people arriving on the island throughout 2015.

Coast guard officers at the press conference said that some of the children that spoke English said they had come alone because their parents did not have enough money for the whole family. Therefore, they sent their children only so as to be accepted by any kind of institution in Greece or Europe. Most of them communicate with their families via Facebook.

Mr. Tsatsoulis said that his colleagues were under immense psychological strain as a result of all they have witnessed over the past year and many of them are on the verge of psychological collapse. Therefore, he asked that the state would provide care and some form of material compensation for their very important work.