Some 124,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Greece so far this year, but the country provides virtually no reception facilities, leaving them wallowing in "totally shameful" conditions, a UN official said Friday.

"I've been working 30 years with UNHCR (and) I have never seen a situation like that...  This is the European Union, and this is totally shameful," Vincent Cochetel, head of the UN refugee agency's Europe division, demanding urgent action from Athens.