Migrant flows increasing at alarming rate

The number of migrant arrivals has increased in recent months for the first time in three years, so much so that although there were 4,881 persons staying at Reception and Identification Centers on the Greek islands in January, that number had more than doubled to 9,137 by the beginning of September.

According to official data, since the beginning of August up until Tuesday, 5,855 migrants had arrived on the Greek islands in the eastern Aegean, while in September, 1,096 people came by sea in just four days.

Tellingly, the new structure that has been constructed on Samos has reached its limit in terms of its capacity to accommodate asylum seekers, while on the other islands that have similar facilities, Lesvos, Chios, Leros and Kos, the number of asylum seekers has increased significantly in recent months.

According to estimates by people with knowledge of the...