Financially Strapped Greece Struggles With Flood of Refugees

The nonprofit organization that Mr. Tirikos-Ergas co-founded, called Angalia—or “hug” in Greek—is one of many volunteer initiatives helping the country cope with a massive wave of migrants, most of them refugees escaping conflict and violence in Syria and Afghanistan.

The run-up to elections set for next month has further paralyzed Greece’s response to the migration crisis as authorities are already struggling to cope with the skyrocketing number of arrivals amid the country’s debt woes and near-empty public coffers.

Volunteers such as Mr. Tirikos-Ergas are often all that prevents complete chaos on the islands bearing the brunt of the migration, fueled this summer by the worsening war in Syria.

The helpers warn that they have their limits. “We are not made of concrete,” the 33-year-old said. “We are under enormous pressure, especially from the people that we can’t help. At the same time, we are juggling all of our other responsibilities.”

The migrants are crossing into Greece from Turkey before heading to Northern Europe by way of the so-called Balkan corridor through Macedonia and Serbia and on into Hungary.

Nearly 142,000 migrants have arrived by sea in Greece since June 1, according to the International Organization for Migration.

While Kos, Chios and other Greek islands in the Aegean Sea have also received migrants, Lesbos has absorbed the bulk: More than 93,000 have arrived on the island so far in 2015, more than seven times the number in 2014.

“I paid $2,000 to get to Greece from Turkey,” said Jared, a 20-year-old from Afghanistan who declined to give his last name. “I am on my own here. All my family is back home. I want to go to Germany to start a new life.”

Lesbos is an easy entry point because of its proximity to Turkey, whose coast is only 6 miles away at some points. Most arrive in packed boats, but some have reached the island by jet ski, Greek officials say.

In the town of Molyvos on the island’s northern coast last week, Australian-born Melinda McRostie escorted a group of about 45 migrants up a hill to an encampment behind her restaurant to get some rest and food. “It is the third group today,” she said.

They had just been handed over to her by the Greek coast guard before being bused to a refugee camp about an hour away. There they were expected to wait up to a week for fingerprinting and the processing of paperwork allowing them to stay in Greece for up to six months. Most of them will move on to other European countries to seek asylum there.

Mrs. McRostie and her Greek husband also own holiday homes they rent to tourists. She said that while handling her business and volunteer work is difficult, “I have a good team.”

With state resources in Greece under enormous pressure, the migrants are posing a complicated and constantly shifting problem.

After increasing the police presence on the island over the summer, the Greek government also raised the number of officials processing the migrants’ paperwork to eight from two, helping to ease their passage through the island.

The relief, however, was short-lived. As the summer season ends, tourists are leaving by ferry and plane, making it harder for migrants to get off the island. Largely as a result, officials say, some 10,000 migrants are stuck for now on Lesbos.

Poor coordination among the dozen or so aid groups on the island are exacerbating the problems, volunteers say.

To help cope with the crisis, the island’s local government requested a grant of €150,000 ($167,775) to €200,000 from Athens in mid-July, but it has yet to receive a reply and doesn’t expect one soon. “When the government is in election mode, everything freezes,” said an island official. “We expect to continue without the funding until at least the end of October.”

Volunteers, meanwhile, complain of official indifference. “The police are just sitting there in the air-conditioned office,” said Mr. Tirikos-Ergas. “There are two to three with some sensitivity to what is going on but not the rest.”

Police say they too are stretched. “We are working 500% above capacity,” said one police official. “Apart from being police, we are also doctors, social workers, psychologists—you name it.”

One nonprofit organization, Iliaktida, welcomes Greece’s elections. As a way of funding their operations, the group uses discarded ballots after the elections to make pulp that they turn into paper for handmade invitations for weddings and baptisms. This, along with EU funding, helps pay its bills and fund its migrant-aid program, said Iliaktida head Vasiliki Andreadelli, as her group readied itself for more migrants.

“We know that this is a bottomless pit,” she said. “There are many more preparing to enter Greece.”

Write to Stelios Bouras at stelios.bouras@wsj.com