Over 11,000 refugees have arrived at Greek islands in the last three days while government officials were apparently preoccupied with the EU summit in Brussels, thereby presenting Turkish smugglers with a golden opportunity to conduct their highly lucrative business of human trafficking.
While only 51 refugees and migrants had managed to land on Greek shores on February 14 and approximately 180 on February 15 because of bad weather, the numbers skyrocketed after that: 1,783 on February 16, 4,611 on February 17, and 4,824 on February 18, while very high numbers were also recorded on February 19.
Kastellorizo has a permanent population of 250 people now accommodates 800 refugees and migrants who landed in the last few days.
More than 3,000 refugees and migrants have landed in the last two days in Lesvos, one of the landing points of entry with a hotspot.
