Migrants and refugees are seen behind a wired fence at the border between Greece and Turkey near Kastanies in northeastern Greece on March 4, 2020. Greece has recorded a surge of migrant arrivals in the first two months of this year, Greek authorities said on Wednesday. Greece on Sunday decided to increase the level of deterrence at its borders to the maximum, as the country is facing a forthcoming increased refugee and migrant influx recently. (Photo by Dimitris Tosidis/Xinhua)
ATHENS, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Greece has recorded a surge of migrant arrivals in the first two months of this year, Greek authorities said on Wednesday.
From Jan. 1 to the end of February, the authorities recorded 5,190 new arrivals from Turkey on boats via the Aegean Sea and 1,668 arrivals via Evros' land border, according to an e-mailed press statement from the Ministry of Migration and Asylum.
Specifically, 3,118 people landed on the Greek islands in January and 2,072 in February; 861 people crossed the land border in January and 807 in February.
The figures mark an increase of 35 percent in January and 20 percent in February, compared to the same periods in 2019.
The data came as tens of thousands of migrants have been gathering at the land border with Turkey since last week, when Ankara announced that it will no longer prevent migrants from reaching Europe's frontiers.
For a fifth consecutive day, Greek police and army forces fired tear gas to keep the crowd away from the borderline at Evros, while sea patrols have increased in the northeastern Aegean.
Greek forces prevented a total of 32,423 illegal crossings and detained 231 people from Saturday until Wednesday afternoon, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.
Greece witnessed 74,482 arrivals in 2019 compared to 50,508 in 2018, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported in early January.
