More than 11,000 Migrants Arrived in Greece by Sea in 2018

SManalysis

By Tasos Kokkinidis - Jun 6, 2018

Greek Reporter



A total of 11,278 refugees and migrants arrived in Greece by sea in the first five months of 2018 according to data released by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The majority are from Syria (43 percent), Iraq (23 percent) and Afghanistan (11 percent). More than half of arrivals are women and children, while 38 percent are men.

The UNHCR report highlights the fact that over one-third of arrivals in 2018 are children. Of those, 7 out of 10 are below the age of 12. Additionally, 10 percent of all children were registered upon arrival as unaccompanied or separated, mainly from Syria and Afghanistan.

Arrivals in May 2018, at 2,916 decreased in comparison to April, when 3,032 people arrived on the islands. Arrivals during the first five months of 2018 are 55 percent higher than those of 2017.

Lesvos, Samos and the Dodecanese islands received 88 percent of all new arrivals, during the first five months of 2018, followed by Chios (12 percent) and Crete (one percent).