THE number of refugees entering Europe via Greece has risen in the past week from 4,500 a day to 7,000.

The International Organisation for Migration, which released the figures at the United Nations offices in Geneva, attributed the increase to deteriorating weather conditions.

Refugees arriving in Greece, most of whom land on the Greek islands, receive help to travel on to neighbouring countries, though they have to pay for their own transport.

The system means that the wealthier refugees, who include many Syrians, are able to continue their journeys immediately.

Poorer people, including many Afghans, have to find work — which they are allowed to do — to raise money for their fares.

In Lesbos, the arrival point for many refugees, there are growing demands for European Union member states to act together to resolve the refugee situation in the Mediterranean.

The Greek coastguard said yesterday that it had rescued 542 refugees over the previous 24 hours, adding that a one-year-old boy had died.