Ship Transfers Over 1,300 Migrants From Greek Island to Mainland City Port

A ship with 1,308 refugees has left the Greek island of Kos bound for the port city of Thessaloniki, to process the asylum-seekers, the press office of the Greek Ministry of Shipping and the Aegean told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — As many as 50,000 refugees are estimated to have arrived in Greece through neighboring Turkey in July, according to the UN Refugee Agency. Most of the refugees come from Syria and enter Greece at Kos, in the southeastern Aegean Sea.

"One ship has already taken migrants and refugees from Kos. The ship with 1,308 migrants left this morning with its final destination in Thessaloniki, calling in ports of islands Kalymnos and Leros to take on migrants there as well. Their further transfer will be decided there," the ministry said Wednesday.

Between 1,000 and 2,000 refugees are estimated to arrive daily to islands in Greece, and the duration of their stay depends on their administrative status.

Europe is facing a rapidly increasing refugee crisis, as thousands of people flee conflict-ridden countries in the Middle East, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, hoping to gain asylum in Europe.