Three Girls Die After Migrant Dinghy Hits Rocks on Chios, Greece

The bodies of three migrant girls have been recovered by the Greek coastguard after their dinghy hit rocks on Chios Island in Greece.

19 migrants were rescued and the coastguard said three patrol vessels were looking for other possible survivors.

The boat began its journey to Greece from the Turkish Aegean coast opposite Chios.

Around 10,163 migrants reached Greece by sea so far this year.

Greece is a major arrival point for migrants seeking a better life in the European Union. For years, most headed for the eastern Aegean Sea islands, such as Lesvos, Chios, and Samos near the Turkish mainland.

But increased Greek and European Union sea patrols in the area have prompted smuggling gangs to also seek alternative routes, including from Libya to southern Crete and from Turkey to Italy around the southern Greek mainland.

Migrant flows to Greece move from the Aegean to Crete and Gavdos

Greece’s Immigration Minister expressed concern recently about the recent spike in the number of undocumented migrants arriving in the southern islands of Crete and Gavdos.

“The flow of migrants from eastern Libya is small, but with an increasing trend, which worries and concerns us, and that is why we are taking a series of initiatives to deal with this new front,” the Minister of Immigration and Asylum Dimitris Kairidis.

Earlier in April Greece pledged financial support for the Greek island of Gavdos and its larger neighbor Crete after a recent increase in migrant arrivals.

The tiny island of Gavdos, which has a population of just 70 people, lies south-west of Crete on a migrant route from Libya towards Europe. Since January this year, more than 1,180 migrants have arrived on both islands. The Libyan port of Tobruk is located around 200 kilometers away.

In contrast to the spike in southern Greece, Kairidis said that the situation is much better in the eastern Aegean and the border with Turkey at Evros.

“The situation in the eastern Aegean is very good as we are down more than 75 percent from the highs of last September and in the last few days, we have had almost no flow. At Evros, the flow has been reduced to zero,” the minister said.

Greece adopts tough policy on migration

Greece has adopted a tougher policy on illegal immigration during the reign of the conservative government.

PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently noted that “a fair migration policy does not mean open or non-existent borders, but rules.”

He pointed out that a European solution to the migration problem is needed and emphasized that the management of the problem will judge the credibility of the EU, adding that it must be proven in practice whether the EU knows how to translate its declarations into an effective policy.

He stressed that guarding its borders is non-negotiable for Greece. “An opponent of the state is anyone who is illegal,” Mitsotakis said, adding that illegal migrant flows in 2023 were much smaller than in previous years, and the government managed the problem much better than other European countries.