GREEK ISLAND OVERWHELMED BY STRANDED MIGRANTS, DESPAIR

News from The Associated Press:
MYTILENE, Greece (AP) -- It was supposed to be the first step on their journey to Western Europe. But now thousands of migrants are mired in despair, anger and frustration on the scenic Greek island of Lesbos.
After perilous sea voyages from neighboring Turkey, they have been stranded here for days, some for nearly two weeks, running out of money and desperate to get to mainland Greece and continue their route.
The island of some 100,000 residents has been transformed by the sudden new population of some 20,000 refugees and migrants, mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan - and the strain is pushing everyone to the limit.
Fights break out among the migrants as they wait in long lines for hours in the summer heat and humidity, after days without showers.
Families, sleeping on the streets, wander the seaside promenade of Mytilene, Lesbos' capital, asking at the swanky cafes and restaurants to use their bathrooms or charge phones.
The small police force, overwhelmed by the numbers, charges in at any sign of trouble, beating crowds with batons to break them up.
"We escaped from ruin to be met with more ruin here," said Mohammed Salama, a 45-year-old Syrian.
He fled the Damascus suburbs where fighting has raged for years, seeking a refuge so he can bring his four daughters and pregnant wife who remained behind.
...Now Baraah - whose means "innocent" in Arabic - has been stuck in Lesbos for 10 days, her money running out, sleeping on the sidewalk by the port for her chance at the paper.
Sunday morning, she turned to a passing Syrian woman and asked, "How is the line?"
"God curse the line and the line's father," the woman snapped before rushing away.