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Friday, August 19, 2016

Migrant path shifts west as Mediterranean rescues rise

ATHENS — Greece’s coast guard on Friday rescued dozens of migrants whose boat ran aground on a deserted islet off southwestern Greece, while another boat landed on the Aegean Sea resort island of Mykonos, well west of the normal migrant route. Another 36 people, including seven children, landed Friday on a remote beach on Mykonos. Separately, government figures showed 261 migrants or refugees arrived on eastern Greek islands in the 24 hours from Thursday morning to Friday morning — a jump compared to recent figures, which had ranged from a few dozen to about 150 per day. Last year, Greece was the main point of entry into the European Union for hundreds of thousands of people seeking better lives in northern and central European countries. While the deal has limited the flow, people are still arriving and around 11,000 are stranded on a handful of eastern Aegean islands, most housed in overcrowded detention camps.


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