During the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, the number of illegal migrants who reached Greek soil numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Although the numbers decreased for some time, it looks like they’re quickly rising once more.
In 2016, Greece and Turkey reached an agreement which allowed Athens to return migrants to Turkey.
The agreement was terminated in 2018, and since then the steady flow of migrants into Greece from the Middle East has continued.
Thanks to the unrelenting stream of migrants coming into the already impoverished southern EU-member state, local tourism and the already struggling economy have nearly ground to a complete halt.
Last month, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu threated the EU when he said, “We are facing the biggest wave of migration in history. If we open the floodgates, no European government will be able to survive for more than six months. We advise them not to try our patience.”