Fewer Immigrants to Cross into Greece from Turkey

The flow of migrants and refugees from Turkey to Greece was reduced, the Greek authorities said on Saturday, announcing also details about the persons who were returned to Turkey

In the last 24 hours, there were only 78 people from the Turkish coast to reach the eastern Greek Islands in the Aegean Sea, the Greek committee announced. This crisis committee estimated at 50 200 the number of migrants in Greece. More than a fifth of them are in the Idomeni Camp nearby the border with Macedonia.

The returning of migrants in Turkey is scheduled to begin on April 4th, according to an EU- Turkey agreement. The agreement provides that any migrant that will be entering Greece illegally after March 20 may be returned to Turkey, DPA reminds.

Workers from the island of Lesbos have yet to process more than 2,600 cases, while 1,300 people are waiting in Chios. Meanwhile 4,000 migrants have gathered in Piraeus, where Doctors without Borders states that they treat the migrants, many of them with respiratory problems.

The Ministry responsible for migration issues said that 71 migrants that were still not covered by the EU agreement were returned to Turkey on Friday. Two were from Bangladesh and the rest from Pakistan.

Since the beginning of this year, 766 migrants from Pakistan, Morocco, Algeria, Bangladesh, Tunisia and elsewhere were sent back to Turkey, the Greek Ministry declared.

Greece and Turkey have recently renewed a 14 year old bilateral deportation agreement, DPA adds.