The Greek islands of Lesvos is struggling to cope with a sudden fresh influx of migrants, with the island regressing back to almost double the numbers of people it hosted five months ago.
According to a statement made by the Ministry of Interior's National Coordination Center for Border Control, Migration and Asylum, there are now a total of 5,111 refugees and immigrants on the island who have applied for asylum. The numbers have not been so high since Christmas in 2016, while as recent as April the number of refugees remaining on the island was down to 2,990. Of the 5,111 people awaiting the examination of their asylum applications, 3,660 are hosted at the Moria reception center, which officially has the capacity and infrastructure for just 2,330 people.
Numbers have swelled again recently with a spike in arrivals crossing from Turkey, despite the EU-Turkey agreement being in place which accounts for sending people ineligible for asylum straight back to Turkey. Authorities on the eastern Aegean have expressed concerns after 397 undocumented migrants who arrived in just one day on Tuesday on boats.This came hot on the heels of another large arrival of 643 people who landed on the islands over the course of last weekend. The hot summer temperatures during August have coincided with human traffickers stepping up their operations.
Hot temperatures allow traffickers to step up operations
So far this month, more than 2,000 migrants have landed on Greek shores from smuggling vessels coming out of Turkey.This renewed upsurge in numbers is putting further pressure on already overcrowded migrant reception facilities, with frequent outbreaks of violence between rival ethnic groups as well as police proving a constant concern.
In Chios, the number of refugees and migrants amounts to 2,814, with 1,104 of them staying at the Vial camp in the village of Halkios. This facility has an official capacity for just 894 people and is the sole hot spot taking in people with the unofficial Souda camp now winding down its operations. Finally, there are 2,514 refugees and migrants hosted on Samos, with 2,145 of them staying in a camp that officially is supposed to house just 700 people.