Fresh calls for migrants to be moved from Aegean islands

Authorities on the eastern Aegean islands have renewed calls on the central government to relocate hundreds of migrants to the mainland as their population on Lesvos, Chios and Samos has risen to 16,334 from 10,349 this time last year. 

The increase, of 55 percent, followed promises by the government to reduce pressure on the islands amid increased arrivals from neighboring Turkey.

“It has to be understood that the decongestion of the islands is an urgent necessity,” the regional governor for the northern Aegean, Christina Kalogirou, told Kathimerini. 

She noted that Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas had pledged to reduce the number of migrants on the islands to 10,000 by September.