Migrants from Afghanistan arriving at the Greek island of Lesbos, in the northern Aegean Sea. The rate of arrivals is still just a fraction of the 2015 peak.CreditCreditLaura Boushnak for The New York Times
New York Times: Migration to Greece Is Rising, as Erdogan Warns of Still More
That flotilla on Aug. 29 repeated a pattern not seen here since early 2016, when the European Union pledged more than $6 billion to Turkey, which lies within view of Lesbos, to tighten its border patrols and keep migrants out of Europe.
In the years since, only one or two refugee boats have typically made it to this stretch of Greek coast each day, substantially easing Europe’s migration crisis. But that rhythm changed this August, the busiest month in more than three years, feeding fears of a new wave of mass migration across the Aegean Sea.
The rate of arrivals is still just a fraction of the 2015 peak, when Lesbos was the busiest European entry point for migrants — primarily people fleeing the Syrian civil war. Last month, nearly 10,000 migrants arrived in all of Greece; in October 2015, at the height of the crisis, more than 210,000 did.
But the recent surge comes as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey threatens once again to allow high numbers of migrants to make their way through Turkey to Greece, should European politicians fail to provide Turkey with further financial support, or dismiss his plans to extend Turkish influence in northern Syria.
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