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Over 230,000 migrants arrive in Greece this year: Official

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More than 230,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Greece by sea this year, a huge rise from 17,500 in the same period in 2014, deputy shipping minister Nikos Zois said Thursday.

"It's an exponential rise -- I don't know how anyone could prepare for it," Zois told a press conference.

More than 80 percent of the arrivals, recorded by the coastguard, are refugees eligible for political asylum, he added.

Speaking alongside other ministers from Greece's interim government on the response to the crisis, Zois said that "calls to throw them out" cannot be the basis of Athens' policy for dealing with the unprecedented influx.

Several Greek islands in the Aegean Sea have been inundated by thousands of arrivals in recent weeks as the migrants -- many of them refugees fleeing war-torn Syria -- set sail from Turkey, taking advantage of the calm summer weather.

Athens has faced repeated criticism over its response to the huge numbers of people landing on its shores, with the United Nations saying migrants were facing "shameful" conditions.

The government of Alexis Tsipras, who resigned as prime minister last month triggering snap elections on September 20, said the scale of the crisis surpassed its ability to cope.

Interim shipping Minister Nikos Christodoulakis called for Greeks to mobilise and "offer what they can" to help the arrivals, particularly by offering boats to help transfer people from the islands to the mainland.

The government needs to act to relieve pressure on the islands, whose infrastructure is under severe strain, risking unrest with local residents as the influx "is disrupting economic and social activity", Christodoulakis said.

More than 230,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Greece by sea this year, a huge rise from 17,500 in the same period in 2014, deputy shipping minister Nikos Zois said Thursday.

“It’s an exponential rise — I don’t know how anyone could prepare for it,” Zois told a press conference.

More than 80 percent of the arrivals, recorded by the coastguard, are refugees eligible for political asylum, he added.

Speaking alongside other ministers from Greece’s interim government on the response to the crisis, Zois said that “calls to throw them out” cannot be the basis of Athens’ policy for dealing with the unprecedented influx.

Several Greek islands in the Aegean Sea have been inundated by thousands of arrivals in recent weeks as the migrants — many of them refugees fleeing war-torn Syria — set sail from Turkey, taking advantage of the calm summer weather.

Athens has faced repeated criticism over its response to the huge numbers of people landing on its shores, with the United Nations saying migrants were facing “shameful” conditions.

The government of Alexis Tsipras, who resigned as prime minister last month triggering snap elections on September 20, said the scale of the crisis surpassed its ability to cope.

Interim shipping Minister Nikos Christodoulakis called for Greeks to mobilise and “offer what they can” to help the arrivals, particularly by offering boats to help transfer people from the islands to the mainland.

The government needs to act to relieve pressure on the islands, whose infrastructure is under severe strain, risking unrest with local residents as the influx “is disrupting economic and social activity”, Christodoulakis said.

AFP
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