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We present the analysis of Nikos Alivizatos, Antigoni Limberaki, Christos Rozakis and Anna Triandafillidou, board members of Solidarity Now.

"The question is not just to say "don't let the terrorists in." By turning your back on every refugee, because he/she might be a terrorist, you turn your back on nearly 20 million people. And when you turn your back on 20 million people, then you will find yourselves amidst a global crisis." This is what a volunteer who offers her services on the island of Lesbos said recently. More than 428,000 refugees have arrived on the island since January this year: they were seeking security and the opportunity for a new life. Across Greece, their number has exceeded 730,000.

For Europe, the refugee crisis is slowly turning into an existential one. The dilemma is huge: if it left its external borders wide open, Schengen would collapse. With it, one of the fundamental principles of the EU – the free movement of people – would go under too. But if it shut its external borders, Europe would destabilize countries like Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, which have until now accepted millions of refugees. Furthermore, the provision of economic aid to Turkey and other countries to keep the immigrants within their own territories, as decided at the last EU leaders' meeting, does not only entail exorbitant costs, but offers no sustainable solution.

As long as the conflicts in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere continue unabated, Europe keeps losing its footing while millions of people fall in the grip of despair driving them to even more fanatical attitudes. In any case, no wall around Europe could be as impenetrable as to protect the continent from eager terrorists.

Greece is facing the enormous challenges of having to manage the incoming flows. The greatest danger facing the country, however, is for it to stay out of Schengen while the other European countries close the borders one after the other. If this materialises, the country will be compelled, while left to its own devices, to accept dozens if not hundreds of thousands of refugees – for an indefinite period of time.

Unfortunately, the European plan for the allocation of 160,000 asylum-seekers from Greece and Italy to other EU countries has not been implemented in practice, resulting in mounting pressure on these two countries. The only official 'hot spot' in Greece now capable of identifying, registering and providing documents to refugees so they could continue their journey, is functioning on the island of Lesbos.

Only 1% of those who come to Greece apply for asylum: from January until today, their number has not exceeded 9,000, as the authorities provide no incentive for this course of action: no shelter, no food, no education or job opportunities. It will be fatal if more precious time is lost and the following three actions are not taken: (a) to create and put in operation more refugee-registering hot spots, (b) to increase the number of initial reception centres, and (c) to put in place infrastructure for the long-term stay and integration of refugees.

According to a 17-point plan, agreed by EU leaders on 25 October, Greece must redouble its efforts to meet the immediate needs for refugee intake. And this is where civil society and organizations such as Solidarity Now will step in: with the support of the Open Society Foundations and the Norwegian government, and with the invaluable cooperation of humanitarian organizations like, among others, Doctors without Borders and the International Rescue Committee (IRC), plus local authorities, it has developed a veritable function of providing assistance to refugees on the spot. This function includes the temporary accommodation of refugees, small cash donations to local hosting families, speeding up the asylum process, especially for vulnerable groups like unaccompanied children, single parents, etc. with the support of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), installation of initial reception mobile stations on the islands of Kos and Leros, etc.

From 2013 until today, Solidarity Now has provided over €14 million while implementing over 70 such programmes. It has built a framework for various new initiatives, like the following:

* To enhance the initial reception structures on the islands and along the land border.

* To inform asylum-seekers about the existing opportunities for transfer to other European countries.

* To put in place adequate infrastructure for medium-term stay and integration of at least 50,000 refugees – which is the country's commitment within the joint European efforts to tackle the crisis.

* To combat refugee-smuggling channels, in close cooperation with the Turkish authorities.

*To inform and mobilise the public opinion in other European countries of the huge efforts being made in Greece, both by the state and by civil society.

If Greece commits itself to these types of action, it will contribute significantly to alleviating a situation, which is not just its own problem, but a problem for the whole of Europe. This will make its voice louder, and it will come across as a more reliable country. These efforts also present Greece with a chance to remain within the European system, while offering solidarity, strengthening the principles of volunteerism and civil society, and creating jobs and relevant expertise in the field of humanitarian aid.

It is necessary to elaborate a comprehensive mid-term European plan for dealing with the refugee crisis, distanced from the Dublin Convention, which is de facto null and void. The time has come for Europe to revisit its own principles and act accordingly, overcoming the fear and paralysis caused by the recent terrorist attacks.