ATHENS, Dhu-AlQa'dah 23, 1436, September 07, 2015, SPA -- Greece asked the European Union for aid on Monday to prevent it being overwhelmed by refugees, as a minister said arrivals on Lesbos had swollen to three times as many as the island could handle, Reuters reported. Its economy already stretched close to breaking point, Greece is struggling to cope with thousands of people, mainly from Syria, fleeing poverty and war. Interim Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas said 15,000 to 18,000 refugees were on Lesbos, an island he said could cope with 4,000-5,000. "The situation is wretched," he told state TV. Tensions have flared on the islands of Lesbos and Kos, short boat journeys from Turkey where there are some 2 million Syrian refugees. The International Rescue Committee said protests on the streets of Lesbos were putting the lives and safety of refugees stranded on the island at risk. "We are truly in the midst of a humanitarian disaster," said Kirk Day, the aid agency's field director on the island. He said many refugees had been stuck on the island for weeks, people were sleeping rough and hygiene was rapidly declining. "None of these things can be addressed with this many people here ... The only way forward is to move these people off the island immediately," Day said. Greece earlier asked the EU to activate its crisis-response body to provide staff, medical and pharmaceutical supplies, clothes and equipment, the Interior Ministry said. It has also applied to the EU Commission for 9.6 million euros in emergency funding to bolster existing reception operations on the islands of Lesbos, Samos and Kos and in the Turkish border region of Evros, and to help set up a new centre on the island of Chios. The health ministry said it had sent extra medical staff to Lesbos and Kos and extended the operating hours of health centres on the islands. --SPA 22:20 LOCAL TIME 19:20 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w