Dimitris Vitsas

Municipal authorities in Thessaloniki met Tuedsay with representatives of the Migration Ministry, the Greek Police and nongovernmental organizations to discuss the need for new facilities to accommodate hundreds of migrants arriving in the northern port from Evros.

Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas on Friday sounded the alarm about rising migrant numbers on the Aegean islands, adding that the process of approving asylum applications is complicted by the fact that migrants often cannot be traced.

Migrant arrivals on Greece's Aegean islands are up by 50 percent compared to last year, Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas said in Parliament Friday describing conditions on Lesvos and Samos islands as "critical."

For the third time since the refugee crisis erupted in 2015, Greece's reception and identification service is leaderless after Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas Thursday heralded the dismissal of the current director.

The Regional Authority of the Northern Aegean issued a stern reply to Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas who claimed the local governor lacks the legitimacy to close down the identification centre in Moria, Lesvos, pointing to a law on public health risks.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met with European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos in Athens on Wednesday to discuss plans to improve the management of migratory flows, ahead of the informal summit meeting in Salzburg later today.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is to meet on Wednesday with the European Union's migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos against the backdrop of mounting reports on the dismal conditions at the Moria reception and processing center on the island of Lesvos.

With migrant arrivals on the Greek islands continuing at a steady rate and returns under the 2016 EU-Turkey Statement proceeding at snail's pace, a pledge by Migration Policy Minister Dimitris Vitsas to reduce the number of migrants and refugees on the Aegean islands to below 10,000 by the end of September, appears highly unlikely.

Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas on Wednesday stopped short of responding to demands from Lesvos Mayor Spyros Galinos for measures to relieve the pressure at the overcrowded migrant camp at Moria, admitting only that the situation is "very tough if not borderline."

Authorities on the eastern Aegean islands have renewed calls on the central government to relocate hundreds of migrants to the mainland as their population on Lesvos, Chios and Samos has risen to 16,334 from 10,349 this time last year. 

The increase, of 55 percent, followed promises by the government to reduce pressure on the islands amid increased arrivals from neighboring Turkey.