At least 500 migrants have landed on the Greek island of Lesbos this week from Turkey in a single day, as conditions on the islands in the Aegean continue to deteriorate.
The 500 migrants arrived on Thursday, according to the DPA news agency, who noted that the landing was the single largest since the migration pact signed betwen the European Union and Turkey in 2016, television broadcaster RTBF reports.
All of the migrants were taken to the notorious Moria migrant camp which is already heavily overcrowded with an estimated 10,000 residents. The camp was originally only designed to house around 3,000 migrants.
The conditions have led to drug use and rampant violence and criminality. Earlier this week the United Nations urged Greece to do more to protect migrants after an Afghan minor stabbed three other migrants, killing one of those he attacked.
The new conservative Greek government promised to clamp down on mass migration and tackle overcrowding issues after Lesbos received a total of 2,700 migrants in just one month.
Syrian migrants also continue to flow into Turkey from their native Syria, with a report claiming that Turkish border guards had fired warning shots on Friday and used tear gas against a group of hundreds of protesters trying to cross the border.
The demonstrating migrants were opposed to the ongoing Turkish military operations in northern Syria, with one man stating: “This is a warning to Turkey that we are coming to Turkey and to Europe if it doesn’t do anything.”
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also noted the new influx of Syrians, warning, “They are pressing north. They are coming towards us.”
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