IOM: Migrant Arrivals in Greece Top 45,000 through January 25
Since the beginning of 2016, IOM estimates that 45,361 migrants and refugees have arrived in Greece by sea. This is roughly 31 times as many as the 1,472 recorded by the Greek Coast Guard for the whole of January 2015.
Some 90 percent of the new arrivals are from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan – the three countries whose nationals are allowed to pass freely from Greece into the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYRoM) en route to Western Europe.
According to IOM’s Early Warning Information Sharing Network, implemented by IOM missions in Greece and the Western Balkans, an estimated 38,876 Syrians, Iraqis and Afghanis crossed into FYRoM in the two weeks ending January 21st, nearly 47 percent fewer than in the preceding two weeks.
IOM Greece also helped almost 400 stranded economic migrants to return home to their countries of origin as part of its Assisted Voluntary Return program. Most of the migrants were from Morocco, Iran and Georgia.
But the death toll in the Mediterranean continues to rise. With a series of shipwreck fatalities since Friday, IOM has tracked over 150 deaths in the Eastern Mediterranean this year, along with 19 more in the Central Mediterranean, bringing the total number of deaths in 2016 to 177. Last year at this time there were fewer than 77.
The journey from the Turkish coast to the Greek islands continues to be the deadliest route. The Greek Coast Guard reported that at least 45 migrants lost their lives in three incidents off Lesbos (20/01), Farmakonisi (21/01) and Kalolymnos (21/01). They included 18 children.
IOM has also seen increased activity in the Central Mediterranean in the past week. On Sunday 723 migrants were rescued at sea and brought to the Italian port of Trapani. One body was also brought ashore.
