MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the BBC, extra personnel and ships were brought to the island to help coping with the unprecedented number of migrants.
On Monday, local media quoted Greek Alternate Minister on migration policy Yiannis Mouzalas as saying that Lesbos was "on a verge of explosion," with some 15,000 to 17,000 undocumented migrants stranded in the island's capital Mytilene.
In recent days, clashes between police and refugees on the island have become a frequent occurrence.
The Greek islands have become the center of the growing migrant crisis in Europe, as they are being used by refugees, fleeing conflicts and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa, as the transit point on their journey to more prosperous EU member states.
According to preliminary data by the EU border agency Frontex published on Tuesday, over 23,000 migrants arrived in Greece by sea last week, a nearly 50 percent rise on the previous week.
