This is the biggest attempt to enter Greece this year. This Monday morning, nearly 600 migrants tried, without success, to cross the Aegean Sea to reach Greece from Turkey.
According to AFP, five sailboats and four rubber dinghies left the Turkish coast this morning. The Greek Coast Guard intervened near the Greek islands of Chios and Samos. “Greek patrol boats were able to quickly locate the vessels and inform the Turkish coast guard,” a Greek coast guard spokesman said. He added that all the boats were “inside Turkish territorial waters”.
According to the Greek Ministry of Migration, more than 3,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Greece this year, including 1,100 in April. According to the same ministry, migratory flows to the Greek islands increased by 30% during the first four months of the year, compared to the same period last year.
More than 2,300 asylum seekers in camps
The Aegean islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos are regular entry points for migrants and refugees in Europe. As of April, more than 2,300 asylum seekers were living in camps located on these five islands.
Greece, a member state of the European Union (EU), regularly accuses Turkey (which is not an EU member) of not taking enough action against smugglers sending migrants in boats. fortune from Turkey, in violation of a 2016 agreement between Ankara and the EU.
For its part, Greece has strengthened, over the past three years, its control system at its land and sea borders with Turkey. For this, Athens relies on the help of the EU’s External Border Surveillance Agency.
But many media and human rights NGOs have repeatedly accused the Greek authorities of illegal pushbacks of migrants to Turkish waters or territory. Accusations that prompted the EU and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to request an investigation in Athens.
Greece has always denied this type of practice. The National Transparency Authority announced in March that it had found no evidence of such practices.