Migrants continue to arrive in Greece

In the past 24 hours, 1662 people have landed at the Greek islands despite a deal between the EU and Ankara to return refugees to Turkey.

Migrants are reflected in a water puddle

Greek authorities say migrants and refugees are continuing to arrive through its Aegean islands. (AAP)

Greek authorities say migrants and refugees are continuing to arrive through its Aegean islands despite an agreement between the EU and Turkey to stem the flow.

The deal went into effect at midnight on Saturday, yet in the past 24 hours, 1662 people crossed from Turkey to the islands, the Greek crisis management authority said on Monday.

A day earlier, 875 migrants arrived, while the figure from the three previous days ranged between 239 and 1498 people.

With the latest arrivals, the number of migrants stranded on Greek soil rose to 50,411, Athens officials said.

According to the EU-Turkey agreement, migrants arriving on Greek shores can expect to be returned to Turkey starting in April, unless they can prove that they face persecution there.

Greece, however, still needs an additional 4000 employees to handle the influx of migrants and determine their status, the European Commission has estimated.

For each Syrian migrant returned to Turkey, the EU is supposed to resettle one on its territory, up to the limit of 72,000.

Presently, there are more than 7000 migrants stranded on the Aegean islands, about 13,000 are in Athens and its port, Piraeus, and the rest are in camps in central and northern Greece.

At Idomeni, a camp on the border that Macedonia sealed to migrants earlier in March, about 13,500 people remain in hope that they would still be allowed to continue towards wealthy EU countries.


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world