Migrant traffickers set course for holiday islands

There was another spike in arrivals of migrants and refugees in Greece in August as the points of entry and trafficking routes have changed. 

Migrant flows from the beginning of the year until July increased by 99% compared to the corresponding period in 2023. More specifically, 23,204 irregular migrants reached Greece - the islands mainly but also via the Evros outpost - from January until July, while in the same period last year the figure came to 11,672 - i.e. about half.

Nikos Panagiotopoulos, the minister of migration and asylum, credited the surge to the "good weather" in a statement on Wednesday. He also expects higher migrant flows in September and October, if the weather remains fair. "No one disputes that there is a problem but much of what is heard is exaggerated," he noted.

Especially concerning is the fact that since June a large number of boats...