The UN refugee agency today called on Greece to use emergency measures to address alarming overcrowding and precarious conditions for asylum-seekers and migrants staying on five Aegean islands where more than 36,000 people are now staying at facilities designed for 5,400 people. The dire conditions and long waits for asylum-seekers to be transferred to the mainland led to protests on Lesvos earlier this week. Local communities have also protested and demanded action to alleviate pressure on the islands in recent weeks. The New York Times reports on the situation on Samos, where over 6,700 people are staying in and around a centre designed for a tenth of that number and where asylum-seekers and locals are all bearing the shared brunt of forces beyond their control.