The
newly-built fence in Evros directs the flow of refugees and migrants to the
eastern sea border of Greece. (Source: Nikos Koutoulas, Flickr
The number
of refugees and undocumented migrants who enter Greece through its eastern sea
borders has skyrocketed over the past year, reports the Greek Office of the
United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and calls for immediate assistance by the
EU.
By the end
of August, 22,089 people had entered the country through the eastern Aegean Sea
this year, marking a dramatic increase of 223.22% compared to 2013. The
situation is expected to aggravate even further, with 8,000 people having
crossed the border in September alone.
The Greek
department of the UNHCR yesterday proposed a plan for the management of the
refugee influx, and gave a report of the current situation in collaboration
with humanitarian organizations and authorities.
The growing
traffic in the Aegean can be explained by the construction of the Evros fence
on the northern Greek-Turkish border, which has shifted migrants’ routes to the
sea.
Incomers
hail chiefly from Syria, accounting for 65% of total arrivals, but most of them
want to move on to Northern Europe, so asylum requests in Greece have remained
level.
Panagiotis
Nikas of the First Reception Service of the Ministry of Civil Protection says
that this disparity is causing a serious problem. The EU is funding the
creation of reception infrastructure based only on the numbers of asylum
requests and not on the true numbers of incoming people, transposing the heavy
load of migrant management to individual countries. However, Mr Nikas praised
the commitment and selfless help they have received from the local societies of
the eastern Aegean islands.
Thursday,
October 9, 2014 - 12:57
