Athens – Greek authorities, already overwhelmed by the number of asylum seekers and migrants, on Tuesday reported that more people arrived from Turkey by sea and land.
Just in the morning hours, a total of 118 people were intercepted or had arrived on boats at Alexandropouli on the mainland and the islands of Samos and Farmakonisi.
According to UNHCR figures, 42,010 people arrived across the Aegean between the start of the year and October 20.
The number of sea arrivals is by far the highest since an EU-Turkey agreement seeking to shut down the Balkan route in March 2016.
In 2018 there were 32,494 arrivals and in 2017, 29,718.
Under the Brussels Ankara deal, those who arrived since it came into effect are kept on Lesbos, Chios, Kos, Samos and Leros until they are granted asylum or returned to Turkey.
But arrivals have outpaced processing even before the inflow spiked since April, leading to massive overcrowding as the population more than doubled over the past six months.
The government has already started relocating people to the mainland just in order to be able to manage the situation.
Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis initially said 10,000, but later that 20,000 would be moved.(dpa/NAN)
