Flows in the Aegean in the Covid-19 environment

Greece is tightening controls on its sea border with Turkey following rumors of a plot to send migrants infected with the novel coronavirus to Greek shores. Due to the extreme sensitivity of the issue, officials in Athens have maintained a cautious stance.

Alternate Minister for Migration George Koumoutsakos has said that all new arrivals will be placed in quarantine, adding that Athens is taking Ankara's repeated threats to "open the floodgates" seriously. That is the approach of the Greek government, regardless of whether there is a deliberate plan behind any fresh inflows.

Shipping and Island Policy Minister Yiannis Plakiotakis, meanwhile, reiterated concerns that smugglers will use decommissioned tankers to transport larger numbers of refugees and migrants to Greece, as was the case with one vessel that ran aground off the island of Kea last month.

Whether...