The Migration Crisis

In 2015, more than one million migrants and refugees crossed into Europe, sparking a crisis as countries struggled to cope with the influx, and creating division in the EU over how best to deal with resettling people. Since then, Greece – a frontline state – has borne the brunt of this burden.

2023 has seen a resurgence in the number of migrants landing on Europe's shores, with more than 185,000 people arriving by sea in frontline states like Italy, Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Malta. Despite an EU-Turkey migrant deal in 2016, Greece continues to receive migrants on its islands and at its land border with Turkey. Cyprus is also seeing a significant increase in the number of asylum applicants, giving it the largest number per capita in Europe, and the outbreak of war in the Middle East is raising concerns about a new wave of migrants and refugees.


Greece is Europe’s frontline

 

Over 185,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Europe via the three Mediterranean routes in Europe in 2023. Arrivals on the Greek islands from the Turkish coast shot up particularly over the summer. Official Greek statistics showed increases of 52 percent in June, 69 percent in July, 106 percent in August and 170 percent in September.


Since 2015 the Greek islands in the Aegean have borne the brunt of the arrivals, especially Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros, Kos, and other islands with face Turkey’s coast. Greece has also experienced surges in migrants arriving at its northern border with Turkey along the Evros River. In 2020 Turkey unilaterally departed from a 2016 agreement with the EU that obliged it to hold back undocumented refugees and migrants as it pressed thousands of them to storm the Greek border, nearly overwhelming Greek police. Toward the end of 2023, as a period of calm settled in Greek-Turkish relations, Greece welcomed the Turkish government’s willingness to reduce migration flows from Asia into Europe, hailing what it called a u-turn in Ankara's migration policy.


The migration crisis in Cyprus

In 2022 Cyprus recorded the EU’s highest proportion of first-time asylum seekers relative to its population. The island’s geography — it’s close to both Lebanon and Turkey — makes it a prime target for migrants wanting to enter the EU from the Middle East. Cyprus is currently bracing for an increase in migrant arrivals on its shores amid renewed conflict in the Middle East, and President Nikos Christodoulides has called for extra EU funding for migration management. The crisis is accentuated by the continued occupation of the north of the island by Turkey. An overwhelming number of migrants are taken to the occupied north, where they then cross through the Green Line to enter the internationally recognized southern part of the island. In 2021 over 80% of asylum seekers entered through the Republic of Cyrus buffer zone. 


Europe must step up to the plate

Greece and Cyprus have repeatedly asked for support from their European partners. Whether it’s streamlining the asylum process, stepping up assistance for border security, or taking steps to alleviate the pressure on the Greek islands, the EU has generally failed to exhibit the necessary leadership and solidarity on this issue. Some EU members simply refused to share the burden, while others shut their borders to refugees and migrants. With Europe reaching a "historic" deal on its new migration and asylum pact in December, the pressure will be on to implement an agreement that not only deals with this crisis, but also stops treating Greece, Italy, and other frontline states as dumping grounds for refugees.


By failing to address the burden that the migration crisis places on Europe’s frontline states like Greece and Cyprus, European leadership has given way to Turkey and its continued use of refugees as a means of promoting its own agenda. As a result, not only are the local populations in EU states like Greece and Cyprus negatively affected, but so are the migrants themselves. Each day of delay simply puts more lives at risk.


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