Minister says migrant arrival numbers sharply down

The number of migrants arriving in Greece has dropped dramatically over the past two years, while the number of asylum-seekers living in the country has also fallen, Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis has said.

Speaking Tuesday at an event marking the third anniversary of the Migration and Asylum Ministry's foundation, Mitarakis credited the center-right government's policies on migration for the drop, including increased border security, faster asylum procedures and a tightening of migration laws.

The country saw the lowest number of arrivals in a decade in 2021, Mitarakis said, putting the figure at under 9,000 people. In 2015 at the height of the migration crisis, hundreds of thousands reached Greece, the vast majority making their way to islands from the nearby Turkish coast and then heading north through the Balkans to wealthier European countries.

"After...