A group of 103 migrants were rescued off the coast of Crete on Tuesday as the surge in new arrivals of undocumented refugees continues in Greece, putting more strain on already overcrowded hotspots and reception centers.
The Singapore-flagged tanker Rhino answered a distress call from a wooden boat which was in trouble and helped get the passengers to safety after a Frontex aircraft located the vessel, according to local media reports.
The migrants, whose nationalities have not yet been revealed by the authorities, have been transported to the port city of Irakleio. These latest arrivals from the waters in and around Greece added to the sudden influx of 1,092 people from August 28 to September 4 on the eastern Aegean islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros.
Generally, there has been a significant increase in the number of refugees and migrants arriving on Greek shores in recent months due to the hot summer temperatures.The problem is exacerbated by the fact that for the last two months there have been no returns to Turkish authorities, which is what is supposed to happen as part of the joint Ankara-Brussels agreement announced in March 2016.
The island of Samos is particularly struggling to cope with overcrowding as the official space created for the identification and temporary stay of 700 people is now hosting close to 2,500 people, some of whom have been there for more than a year.
Tensions have been mounting on the island in recent days with frequent clashes between rival nationalities - Syrians and Iraqis in particular. Five people were taken to hospital with knife wounds over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Greece's Asylum Service has published data revealing that 18,572 people were relocated from the country to other states within the European Union from October 2015 until August 27 of this year.
The report also mentioned that flights have already been scheduled for another 984 asylum seekers to be relocated. From the 18,572 refugees who were relocated, the majority were taken in by Germany, followed by France, the Netherlands and Sweden.