Economic migrants put extra strain on asylum system

The numbers of migrants crossing from Turkey to the eastern Aegean islands are on the rise, but the percentage of those who merit international protection is on the wane, say authorities, who are looking for ways to speed up asylum procedures.

Speaking to Kathimerini on condition of anonymity, local officials told the newspaper that refugee families currently stranded on the islands are reluctant to share a roof with economic migrants, mostly young men from the Maghreb region (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria) who allegedly often display delinquent behavior and are on the front lines of riots at reception centers.

Migration Policy Minister Yiannis Mouzalas recently admitted that between 70 and 80 percent of arrivals were now migrants while before it was refugees escaping conflict and war.

Whereas the latter appear aware that the Balkan route to Western Europe is...