Latest ministry data shows 73,000 refugees and migrants are currently living in Greece

The Secretariat for Crisis Management Communication, of the Ministry of Digital Policy, Telecommunications and Media, on Thursday released the latest information concerning refugees and migrants in Greece.

Some 73,000 refugees and migrants live in Greece at present, including 3,774 unaccompanied minors, of whom 93.9 percent are boys and 26.1 percent are girls, with 7.3 percent being under 14 years of age.

At the end of March 2019 there were 11,492 people at Greek reception and identification facilities in Greek islands, compared to the 18,200 recorded in September 2018.

In the context of reducing overcrowding at the island hotspots, in 2018 some 29,090 people were transferred from the islands to mainland reception facilities, who had either already qualified for international protection or were considered to belong to more vulnerable classes of asylum seekers.

In the first quarter of 2019, a total of 7,764 migrants and refugees came to Greece, signalling a significant decrease in flows compared to the same period last year.

At the same time, 1,827 migrants left the country, 37 under the EU-Turkey agreement, and there were 1,201 voluntary returns, while 589 people were relocated to other EU member states for family reunification.

During the 2018-2019 academic year, some 12,500 refugee and migrant children attend courses at refugee reception and education facilities, while nursery schools operated within these centres.

According to the ministerial bulletin, there was a 24.6 percent increase in first-degree asylum application decisions issued between January-March 2019, compared to the same period last year.

Asylum applications approved during in the first quarter of 2019 amounted to 4,454 in total, up from 2,904 in the same period in 2018. In the Aegean islands over the same period, approvals increased by 42.3 percent compared to last year.