Migrant flows increasing at alarming rate

The number of migrant arrivals has increased in recent months for the first time in three years, so much so that although there were 4,881 persons staying at Reception and Identification Centers on the Greek islands in January, that number had more than doubled to 9,137 by the beginning of September.

According to official data, since the beginning of August up until Tuesday, 5,855 migrants had arrived on the Greek islands in the eastern Aegean, while in September, 1,096 people came by sea in just four days.

Tellingly, the new structure that has been constructed on Samos has reached its limit in terms of its capacity to accommodate asylum seekers, while on the other islands that have similar facilities, Lesvos, Chios, Leros and Kos, the number of asylum seekers has increased significantly in recent months.

According to estimates by people with knowledge of the migration issue, the deadly shipwreck off the coast of Pylos in June, which resulted in the deaths of more than 80 people with many hundreds still missing, and the criticism that Greek authorities came under for their handling of the disaster has whetted the appetite of migrant traffickers, who believe that the country will not risk another tragedy, especially in the middle of the tourist season.

At the same time, traffickers are now using luxury boats carrying migrants in their holds.

A case in point was the incident six days ago involving a luxury yacht that disembarked at least 51 foreign nationals on the beach of Agia Anna on Mykonos, who had no travel documents. 

For its part, however, the Migration Ministry attributes the increase in migrant arrivals on the islands to the summer and good weather conditions. At the same time, sources at the ministry also stressed that Turkey wants to discreetly put pressure on the European Union, using the flow of migrants from its shores.