Greek authorities have been busy recently. Last weekend, the Greek coast guard said it had rescued 84 migrants at sea and arrested four individuals on charges of trafficking.
Over the weekend of February 10-11, the Greek coast guard was involved in several operations, they stated on their website.
The first was after they were alerted to a boat drifting due to mechanical failure around 46 nautical miles off the south of the island of Crete.
The coast guard said that a Greek Navy frigate found the boat and rescued a total of 72 individuals, 58 of them men and 14 minors, transporting them to port in Crete.
After questioning the new arrivals, the coast guard arrested two of them, aged 30 and 18, on trafficking charges.
Migrants paid between €1,869 and €3,738 for passage to Greece
According to the coast guard's media statement, the vessel had sailed from the Libyan port of Tobruk - a popular starting point for traffickers setting sail for Italy, as well as Greece. The coast guard said that the rescued migrants claimed to have paid between $2,000 and $4,000 (between about €1,869 and €3,738) for passage to Greece.
The two men arrested face charges of "forming a gang, facilitating the unlawful entry of individuals into the country and exposing them to danger."
In the second incident, which took place in the early hours of Saturday (February 10) morning, the coast guard was informed that people had landed on the famous 'Anthony Quinn beach' on the island of Rhodes.
"A lifeboat immediately went to the area, as well as Port Authority officials and Greek police patrols on land," said the coast guard.
"The lifeboat spotted and stopped a high-speed boat, which was heading towards the Turkish coast, with two foreigners on board, aged 24 and 34 according to their statement, who did not have travel documents. The aforementioned were transferred to the Port Authority in Rhodes, where they were arrested. On further inspection, 14 foreign nationals (5 men, 4 women and 5 minors), were found by police patrols. The Central Port Authority in Rhodes, which is conducting the preliminary investigation, seized the high-speed boat."
The nationalities of the rescued migrants and the traffickers have not yet been released.
Arrivals in Greece
In 2023, a total of 41,561 people arrived in Greece by sea, which is up from 12,758 in 2022, according to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR.
The numbers of arrivials reached a peak of 10,839 in September 2023, and have since then been on the decrease.
Indeed, Greek authorities earlier this month reported a significant decrease in the arrivals of asylum seekers in the month of January. More specifically, the total number of arrivals amounted to 3,795, down 30% compared to the previous month, in December 2023.
The overall decrease when compared to September 2023 exceeded 70%.
The latest data from the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum said that "it is worth noting that the migratory pressure has subsided, to a very large extent, in Evros and, secondarily, in the south-eastern Aegean, while it remains noticeable in Lesvos and, secondarily, in Samos."
New tactics from smugglers?
Conversely, the latest report also said that on days with bad weather conditions and strong winds, the numbers of migrants boarding boats actually increases (instead of decreasing, as might have been expected).
This is put down to the latest tactics used by traffickers who "consider the rain and wind to make it difficult for the coast guard to locate boats, and so they do not hesitate to put even more human lives in danger", according to the report.
Despite the recent declines in the numbers of people trying to enter Greece, the country's national reception system continues to show high occupancy rates, just under 80%.
In January, however, for the first time in the last 12 months, there was a significant decrease as departures were almost twice as many as arrivals.The report was accompanied by a statement which added: "The Ministry of Migration and Asylum takes all measures for the effective hosting of asylum seekers, safely for local communities and themselves, in accordance with Greek, European and international law and the national interest."