About 28 000 migrants and refugees entered Greece on October 30 – November 1 – IOM
An estimated 28 000 migrants and refugees crossed into Greece on the weekend from October 30 to November 1 2015, according to Hellenic Police figures, quoted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
About 10 842 arrived on October 30, 8998 on October 31, 4292 on November 1st and 3787 on November 2, IOM said on November 3.
According to IOM staff, the disparity can be attributed to the winter weather and rough seas, which are reducing the number of days that migrants can safely travel from Turkey.
Numbers of migrants and refugees leaving the country are also influenced by the days of the week on which ferries leave the Aegean islands for Athens and Kavala.
A two-day strike by the Panhellenic Maritime Federation on November 2 and 3 would reduce flows from the islands to the mainland, IOM said.
IOM estimates that more than 200 000 migrants arrived in Greece by sea during October 2015. During the month, deaths at sea have also risen sharply. Last week there were seven fatal shipwrecks. The Hellenic Coast Guard says that during October it recovered 106 bodies, but many more are reported missing.
(Photo, of migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos: Amanda Nero/IOM)
