Lesbos

Five closed pre-departure centers for migrants are expected to open on the Aegean islands of Samos, Chios, Lesvos, Kos and Leros, with details to be announced by government spokesman Stelios Petsas on Wednesday. 

The centers are to host no more than 5,000 people each and are expected to replace the open camps such as Moria and Vathy. 

The European Union is preparing to pay Turkey tens of millions of euros to help bolster its coast guard, a senior EU official said Wednesday, as increasing numbers of people leave the country in hopes of finding sanctuary or jobs in Europe.

Despite opposition from local communities, the Citizens' Protection Ministry is intent on implementing the government's plan to distribute asylum seekers among regional units across the country as part of the initiative to decongest overcrowded camps on the Greek islands.

Residents of Chios early on Monday blocked the road leading to the island's Vial reception facility in a protest against the camp's growing migrant population. 

The residents have said that they will scale up their protests if central government authorities do not extend an operation to decongest the camps on Lesvos and Samos to their island too. 

A European top official says the situation in Greece's migrant camps is "explosive" and is urging the country's authorities to transfer asylum-seekers from islands to the mainland.

Nearly 800 migrants reached the islands of the eastern Aegean in the space of 48 hours, according to official figures made public on Wednesday.

A total of 795 migrants arrived on Lesvos, Chios and Samo on Tuesday and Wednesday, as human traffickers continue to exploit the good weather to intensify their activity. 

From the beginning of the year to October 13, 2019, 50 720 refugees and migrants arrived in Greece, of which 39 775 by sea. This is indicated by official data in the country, almost identical to last year, when 50,963 people were registered.

The notoriously overcrowded migrant and refugee processing center on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos broke a new record on Tuesday, when its population reached more than 13,800 people.

This is more than the camp, which was designed to accommodate just 3,000 people, has ever held.

Protesters on the island of Lesvos, in the eastern Aegean, have reportedly prevented the Open Arms - a humanitarian vessel operated by Spanish NGO Proactive - from docking at the northern harbor of Skala Sykamias, reports said.

Another 649 migrants and refugees reached the islands of the northeastern Aegean in the past two days, based on data released by the region's police directorate on Tuesday.

Of those, 377 arrived at Lesvos, 244 reached Chios and 28 went to Samos.