Greece sees sharp surge in migrant crossings
Authorities in northern Greece have reported a sharp increase in migrant crossings at the country’s land border with Turkey along with a rise in arrests of smuggling suspects.
The number of migrants registered and arrested after crossing the border was 3,543 in October, an 82 percent rise from that month the previous year, according to police data from the border region of Thrace and the northern city of Thessaloniki obtained by The Associated Press.
The number of smuggling suspects arrested also nearly doubled, from 66 in October 2017 to 110 last month.
The surge in numbers has complicated an ongoing government effort to reduce overcrowding at migrant camps on Lesbos and other Greek islands by moving more asylum seekers to the mainland. [AP]
