The Greek Minister of Migration Dimitris Vitsas revealed on Friday that the flow of migrants from the land border with Turkey has increased by almost 300 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year.

During the same period, there was an increase of 10 percent of inflows to the Aegean islands.

Vitsas said that in 2018, in total, 47,929 people arrived in Greece (compared to 34,707 in 2017), of which 32,155 arrived on the islands, and 15,814 in Evros on the land border with Turkey.

Though the Evros frontier is heavily guarded, it is still an easier way to get into Greece than taking a boat to an island.

The islands, such as Lesvos, Samos, and Chios, have become dead-ends where thousands of asylum seekers and migrants remain stuck in squalid camps.

In October, Greece issued an official complaint to the European Commission and the Turkish authorities blaming the Turkish side for deliberate negligence in guarding the borders on Evros.