Surge of Refugees in Greece Reaches 160000 — UN Refugee Agency

The figures have increased significantly since June, when the border agency registered around 70,000 migrants crossing into Europe.

Frontex says 107,500 migrants were detected at EU borders in July – the third consecutive monthly record and the first time monthly entries have surpassed the 100,000 mark.

In Germany alone, which recorded 203,000 claims last year, officials expect to register some 750,000 refugees this year.

From Thessaloniki, the migrants can continue their odyssey toward asylum in wealthier European countries, travelling through the Balkans.

“The pace of arrivals has been steadily increasing in recent weeks, with more refugees and migrants having arrived in Greece during July than during the whole of last year”, UN associate spokesperson Vannina Maestracci said at a daily news briefing.

Earlier this month construction began on a 175 km (110 mile) razor wire border fence in Hungary to deter migrants, while Britain and France have tightened security on the French side of the 30-km (19-mile) tunnel linking the countries.

It also estimated at least 2,300 people have died this year trying to make the crossing. The corpses of five migrants from the boat were found, it added.

Italy said Tuesday eight suspected people smugglers had been arrested. More than 340,000 migrants have made the desperate journeys through the Mediterranean during the first seven months of the year, more than two-fold during the same period in 2014.

But when they arrive on Greek islands facing Turkey there is little if anything for them and most have been forced to sleep outdoors in squalid conditions, and tensions have been running high.

Greece has taken some steps to address the problem, including sending a large ferry to Kos to serve as a registration and housing facility for refugees. An estimated 6,500 refugees were on Lesbos last night, and with ferries leaving to the mainland completely booked until the middle of next week, the number of refugees staying on the island increases each day.

It wasn’t the only rescue Tuesday in the Aegean Sea.

“The situation is still very complicated”, UN refugee agency emergency coordinator Roberto Mignone told AFP on the island.

The escalating refugee crisis in Greece is continuing, with migrant arrivals accelerating “dramatically”, the United Nations warned today, urging the Greek Government to strengthen reception facilities and services and for wider Europe to bolster humanitarian coordination.