Leros

The islands of the eastern Aegean with populations of refugees and migrants who have arrived since March are at risk of increased conflict, according to local observers who are warning that the situation on Greece's overcrowded islands is "dangerous and could get out of control at any moment."

Forty-eight migrants and refugees were rescued on Friday off the coast of the Farmakonisi islet in the eastern Aegean.

The migrants were crammed in an inflatable rubber dingy which started taking in water before the coast guard picked them up out of the sea.

All 48 were transferred to the nearby island of Leros.

There has been a significant increase in the tide of refugees to Greece’s eastern Aegean islands, with 156 new arrivals in the last 24 hours alone, raising the figure of migrants to 16,021.

Authorities dealing with the immigration problem are concerned as an estimated 2,500 Pakistani migrants have disappeared from reception centers from Aegean islands, apparently fleeing due to fears that they will be deported.

Migrants on Monday attacked the premises of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) inside the Moria hot spot on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos, completely destroying four container office units and damaging another two during a protest that was contained by riot police.

Arrivals of migrants from neighboring Turkey have seen a slight increase in recent days with the Aegean island of Chios receiving 64 migrants on Sunday night after 10 days of no arrivals at all.

Over the weekend, in addition to the 64 migrants on Chios, 116 people reached Lesvos and 156 arrived on Samos.

Authorities said a total of 75 migrants and refugees crossed from Turkey to the eastern Aegean island of Samos on Thursday and on Friday.

They were rescued by staff of the European Union border agency Frontex.

The latest arrivals raised the number of migrants currently staying on the island to 2,304.

More ‘Olympic Air’ commercial flights will be cancelled due to a strike called by the union of Civil Aviations Services. More specifically the following flights will be cancelled on:

-Friday, October 7:

OA 030 Athens-Leros, OA 031 Leros-Athens

OA 056 Athens-Kythira, OA 057 Kythira-Athens

Olympic Air has canceled 10 domestic flights scheduled for Friday and another 10 on Saturday due to rolling walkouts by Civil Aviation Authority staff.

Olympic Air has canceled six domestic flights scheduled for Wednesday due to rolling walkouts by Civil Aviation Authority staff.

The affected flights were between Athens and the islands of Kythera, Paros and Leros, and inter-island flights between Kos, Kalymnos, Leros, Astypalaia, Rhodes and Kastellorizo.

Another eight flights were canceled Tuesday.