On Friday, the Greek government held a meeting to address the increasing challenges posed by migration as 102 migrants crossed into Greece by land from Turkey, while the country also experienced a spike in arrivals by sea.
The meeting, attended by ministers for merchant marine, police, and migration, focused on improving coordination and joint action but provided no further details on their plans.
In the northeastern Evros region, authorities discovered 102 migrants, including 55 Syrians, 46 Iraqis, and a Lebanese woman, near the Turkish border. They were taken to an asylum-seeker registration center, and the group consisted of 53 children. Meanwhile, off the southwestern town of Pylos, the coast guard rescued 49 migrants from a boat that had run out of fuel, following an alert from Italian authorities. A merchant ship was diverted to pick them up, and 47 were later transferred to a coast guard boat bound for the southern port of Kalamata. A woman suffering from sunburn was airlifted to the mainland for treatment, along with her companion.
Greece has been witnessing a rise in sea arrivals of people escaping conflict and hardship in the Middle East and Africa. The eastern islands, in close proximity to Turkey, have been a common entry point, but stricter deterrence policies had previously reduced arrivals there.
However, the situation remains challenging, as evidenced by a tragic incident in June when a trawler carrying up to 750 people from Libya to Italy sank southwest of Pylos, resulting in one of the worst Mediterranean migrant disasters in years.
The coast guard also reported arrests related to migrant-smuggling activities. Two Turks were detained for allegedly ferrying 27 migrants in a speedboat across the Aegean Sea to the island of Evia. Additionally, four Afghans and two Pakistanis were arrested on suspicion of planning to drive the migrants in a mini-bus and four cars, and all eight were charged with belonging to a migrant-smuggling gang.
Despite the challenges, Greece is committed to addressing migration issues, and authorities have vehemently denied accusations from humanitarian organizations of illegal and clandestine deportations of migrants back to Turkey.
