The flow of irregular migrants and would-be asylum seekers in the eastern Aegean continued unabated, as Greek coast guard units and Frontex crews picked up 369 third country nationals over a mere 24-hour period and in 12 separate incidents overnight on Wednesday.
Another 272 third country nationals managed to land by themselves on a trio of Aegean islands, namely, Hios (Chios), tiny Farmakonissi and Samos.
The resurgent migrant crisis has erupted over the past few months in the country, almost coinciding with the assumption of power by a new center-right government in Greece. Ruling New Democracy (ND) party, in fact, had promised a tougher stance on illegal immigration in tandem with an acceleration of the asylum process for eligible third country nationals.
Tens of thousands of third country nationals, ranging from sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa, to the war-ravaged Middle East and south Asia, continue to assemble on the opposite Turkish coast for an opportunity to clandestinely reach EU territory, which in this case are Greece’s adjacent eastern Aegean islands.
The latest developments from the “migration/refugee” front on Greece’s porous eastern borders come ahead of yet another announcement of measures, set for Wednesday, by the Mitsotakis government. The government has already announced 1,700 hirings of “special police guards” and personnel for the asylum bureau, on both the islands and the mainland.
The term “special police guards” in Greece denotes uniformed officers who have been hired and trained without having taken a university entry exam and subsequently graduating from a relevant police academy
According to widely circulated media reports, the government will establish another seven to 10 closed pre-readmission centers for irregular migrants, able to host between 5,000 and 10,000 people, some of whom will be created on the affected islands.
While generally receiving high positive marks in the first public opinion polls conducted after the July 2019 election, the Mitsotakis government nevertheless has fared very poorly in managing the migrant crisis, results from the polls show.
