Exhausted but calm, these migrants have survived a dangerous journey. Some don’t know exactly where they are, only that it is European soil. Recently, they have been taking boats from the coasts of non-EU Turkey in unprecedented numbers.
They try to reach the nearby islands of Greece, such as Samos, many risking their lives.
Our correspondent Nikoleta Drougka said: “New migrants arrive on the tiny beach of Sideras, almost every day, not only because it is isolated, but also because it is only a few hundred meters away from the Turkish coast — a distance that can be swum.”
There is a steady traffic of boats for those who can pay. The people of Samos describe a pattern of behaviour and technique: the vessels are mainly inflatable and always overloaded. They come by night and arrive on the island’s eastern coast. Their passengers wait till dawn then walk the roughly 12 km to the port of Vathi.
Residents say the migrants follow instructions given to them by their traffickers — in
