"The coast guard in 2015 has rescued 50,000 people sea at sea. The coast guard arrested 17,500 people within the first eight months of 2014, while 230,000 migrants have arrived [in Greece] in the same period of 2015. Within two months alone the number of arrivals has exceeded 157,000," Zois said at a press conference.
According to the minister, the Greek coast guard is experiencing acute equipment shortages, as 36 percent of its 240 vessels are out of order.
Greece is currently facing a major wave of migrants fleeing conflict-torn countries in North Africa, the Middle East, Central and South Asia and reaching the country’s Aegean Islands in the hope of finding refuge in Europe.
According to the International Organization for Migration, over 350,000 undocumented migrants have been rescued at sea this year, while more than 2,600 have died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.
