Thousands of refugees – including families with small children - are trapped in dangerously overcrowded camps on the Greek islands as winter sets in.

Hundreds of you have reached out to Prime Minister Tspiras to urge government action to stop families from being forced to sleep in tents in the cold.

Late last week, the Greek Ministry of Migration Policy responsible for the government’s response efforts held an emergency meeting to announce that 5,000 people will be moved from the islands by December 15th.

1,000 people were moved this past weekend. All of you who chose to stand with refugees should know this: your actions are already making a difference for refugees trapped in Greece.

This is such an important first step. So thank you.

We need to keep up the momentum and continue to stand with refugees to ensure everyone is protected as winter sets in.

More people are arriving on the islands every day, and so the longer this goes on for, the worse it will get.

At least 7,000 people need to be transferred before the start of winter, to ensure no one is left out in the cold.

Let’s keep it up - the Greek Government and European leaders can ensure that by December 21, the official start of winter, no one is forced to sleep out in the cold.

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People power is making a difference! The Greek Govt. has now moved 1,000 refugees from the islands. 6,000 remain in appalling conditions: tell @Tsipras_EU to keep moving people to safety. #OpentheIslands

The International Rescue Committee is proud to campaign together with Amnesty International, Caritas Hellas, Greek Council for Refugees, Help Refugees, Human Rights Watch, Jesuit Refugee Service, Oxfam, Praksis, Spanish Commission for Refugees (CEAR,) Solidarity Now and Terre des Hommes.