More than 10,000 Mideast war refugees and assorted other Third World irregular migrants remained stranded on a handful of eastern Aegean islands this week.
According to Greek and EU authorities, smugglers operating from the opposite Turkish apparently took advantage of the recent coup in Turkey, and the subsequent political turmoil, to increase the flow of third country nationals landing on Greek territory — what the latter believe will be the first step towards reaching preferred European destinations.
Over the last 24 hours, some 90 people landed on Greek islands from Turkey.
The continued flow of refugees, would-be asylum seekers and illegal migrants ranging from Morocco to Burma, is cited as more-or-less tanking the 2016 tourism season for Greece’s northeast Aegean islands, with Lesvos posting the biggest decrease in tourism arrivals.
