Tourists and locals providing for migrants on Greek island of Kos

Groups of tourists and locals are providing food and clothing to migrants arriving on the Greek island of Kos, with one Dutch tourist so moved by the plight of the refugees he's taking two suitcases full of shoes on holiday with him to be distributed on his arrival.

The Greek island, renowned for its beaches and nightlife, is now being described as the new "frontline of Europe's asylum migrant crisis", with thousands of migrants fleeing from the Middle East making the crossing from the Turkish border, which is less than three miles away.

Some parts of the island have been transformed as a result of the influx, with one former hotel serving as a makeshift refugee camp. It is estimated that around 1,500 migrants have arrived on the island in the last 10 days alone, and the arrival of thousands more are expected as the weather improves. The island's native population is 35,000.

Dutch news website AD.nl has now reported that one Dutch tourist with a holiday already booked to the island has decided to help alleviate the situation. Niels Verheij and his wife will take two extra suitcases to Kos full of shoes donated by friends for the refugees, despite being charged extra by their airline for the excess baggage.

Verheij explained his decision, saying: "These people have a long way behind them and their shoes might be worn out. They have nothing more than a few euros.

"Those people abandoned their homes not for fun but due to the war. It is horrible what a havoc the Islamic State caused there."

More than 39,000 refugees have arrived in Greece, compared with the 45,000 who have reached Italy, according to the UN, and while numbers heading to Italy are stabilising, the numbers arriving in Greece are rising sharply.

The situation has also prompted locals to give food and clothing to the new arrivals. One woman told the Times newspaper: "I try to come down here at least three times a week and bring fruit or yoghurt for the children," she said. "But you can never bring enough. Food is expensive here, and these people have nothing."

These donations are welcome, as the Greek government's finances reach crisis point. Daniel Esdras, the head of the Greek office of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), told the Telegraph newspaper that "there's no infrastructure to receive these people," highlighting that the IOM depend heavily on European funds and their money is due to run out on 30 June.

Other charities are also urging European leaders to do more to help Greece's arrivals. "The pressure on Greece is increasing, with a huge recent influx in migrants arriving by sea, just as we have seen in Italy," says Gemma Parkin, senior news manager for the charity. "Families fleeing Syria paint a picture of unimaginable horror. Parents report their children becoming accustomed to seeing people blown up and dead bodies in the street. With little access to food, medical care or schooling, life is a battle for survival," she continues.

However, the reaction from other tourists to the island has been very different. This week a thread emerged on the online travel forum TripAdvisor where visitors voiced their worries about levels of crime on Kos.

One post read: "I wonder what's the crime level like today? Don't want to sound bad or so..but it makes me worry a lot.." Several posts later assured the worried traveller that everything was "business as usual" on the island.

A recent article that appeared in British newspaper the Daily Mail, quoted UK tourists who complained that the migrants were turning the idyllic island into a "disgusting hellhole" and booking company Trivago this week reported a 52% drop in searches for the holiday destination compared to the previous week.

One waiter who works on Kos told the Telegraph newspaper that staff at his restaurant have been laid off due to tour operators allowing customers who are perturbed by the migrants to cancel their holidays although Newsweek has been unable to confirm.