Trends on sea arrivals
So far this year, 203,981 people made the journey to seek safety in Europe. Almost three-quarters of these had travelled from Turkey to Greece prior to the end of March. Since March arrivals in the eastern Mediterranean route have decreased by 95.32%. In May 1,465 of people arrived to Greece by sea this is 40.13% less than in the previous month (3,650 arrivals).
While in the past weeks we have seen several tragic incidents and thousands of people rescued in the Central Mediterranean route, the sea arrivals trends in this route remains similar to that of the previous year.
Some 46,714 people arrived to Italy first five months of 2015 almost the same as the total recorded in the same period of 2015. In terms of nationalities, the main countries of origin of arrivals to Europe include the Syrian Arab Republic (41%), Afghanistan (21%), Iraq (13%), Pakistan (3%) and Iran (2%), amongst others. In Greece, these are the Syrian Arab Republic (49%), Afghanistan (26%), Iraq (15%), Pakistan (4%) and Iran (3%), amongst others, while in Italy, these are Nigeria (15%), Gambia (10%), Somalia (9%), Cote d’Ivoire, Eritrea (8%), Guinea (8%), Senegal (7%), Mali (7%) and Sudan (5%) as of end of April.
On 31 May, UNHCR stated that at least 880 people are believed to have drowned last week in a spate of shipwrecks and boat capsizing on the Mediterranean.
UNHCR Spokesperson, William Spindler, added that “Thus far 2016 is proving to be particularly deadly.
Some 2,510 lives have been lost so far compared to 1,855 in the same period in 2015 and 57 in the first five months of 2014”.
The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) announced this week they will launch on 6 June their search and rescue mission in the Central Mediterranean by deploying two ships and two drones.
Key developments
Reception capacity on the mainland and the evacuation of the Eidomeni informal site The Greek Government’s efforts to increase the current reception capacity are on-going. According to the Alternate Minister for Migration Policy, 40,000 - 45,000 accommodation places were made available across the country in the past two months. The Alternate Minister for Migration Policy and the Regional Governor of Central Macedonia agreed that the refugee population present in Greece will be distributed fairly across the country by September 2016. The Minister explained that many of the current sites in Central Macedonia will close and be replaced by new sites across Greece. On 26 May, the Public Order Minister, the Alternate Secretary General of the Interior Ministry responsible for Migration and the Head of the Hellenic Police announced that all refugees and migrants have been evacuated from Eidomeni. The Police have yet to confirm the official figures. UNHCR is in the process of collecting information on nationality breakdowns per site and additional interpreters are deployed through UNHCR’s partners to support UNHCR in protection monitoring. In addition, UNHCR technical teams continued to assess needs at the new sites and modalities to provide assistance are being discussed (See UNHCR Briefing note of 27 May for additional details).
In addition, UNHCR is actively supporting the Greek Government through site planning, shelter, Water,
Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) activities, Non-Food and Core Relief Items distribution, counselling and provision of information on asylum amongst others, in the the 48 sites throughout the country, including 43 sites established by the Greek authorities and five informal sites (Piraeus Port and Victoria Square in Athens, and EKO gas station, Hotel Chara, and BP gas station in Northern Greece). In addition, UNHCR is working on establishing accommodation places for relocation candidates and asylum-seekers with specific needs as part of the commitment to create 20,000 accommodation places in Greece. These include various types of accommodation, including apartments, hotels, placement with host families and relocation sites. (1)
On the mainland, conditions continue to vary between sites and tensions increased in some of these.
According to local media in Larissa, a young refugee hung himself from a tree on 26 May. On 1 June, two children of 14 and 11 years old from the site of Pieria (Petra Olympou) went swimming at a nearby irrigation dam of the municipality and drowned. Hellenic Police and Army intervened. The municipality of Katerini will bear all the expenses for the funeral and graves.