Midwinter arrivals of migrants increase
An increase in migrant arrivals has been observed in the last two months despite the wintry conditions making the crossing more difficult and dangerous.
Sources at the Migration Ministry attribute the increase to the activation of smuggling rings as recent arrests suggest. More specifically, 2,800 people arrived in December and 2,600 in January, including 1,300 on the islands.
According to the latest Migration Ministry data, a total of about 4,600 people remain in the reception and identification centers on the islands. Lesvos is hosting 1,869 people and Chios has 327. There are also 905 on Samos, 387 on Leros and 1,048 on Kos.
A number of Palestinians have arrived in Kos in particular recently, having moved through a ring based in a law firm in Gaza. Sources at the Migration Ministry say that the fare for the passage from Bodrum to Kos was 3,200 euros, as revealed by messages between the migrants and the traffickers.
