Early on Saturday afternoon, Turkish citizens illegally arrived on Chios island in order to escape the regime of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
26 Turkish citizens arrived on the island of Chios seeking political asylum, saying they were being persecuted by the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Turks, in order not to be noticed, used small fishing boats, on which they raised the Greek flag, as a result of which they managed to reach the area of Agia Ermioni, where they were noticed by boats of the Central Port Authority of Chios.
In fact, two of them, knowing the process, used a drill to make holes in the boats to cause a shipwreckm resulting in their arrest a short time later.
They were taken, including children, to quarantine structure in Lefkonia and the detention centers of the Central Port Authority of Chios . All of them were fined 5,000 euros and a case was filed for illegal entry into the country.
Earlier this month, a boat carrying 23 Turkish citizens, including several children, landed at the beach of Vrontados in Chios, as reported by Greek City Times.
They were seeking political asylum from Greece, claiming they were being persecuted by the Erdoğan regime.
Chios Port Authority also arrested the trafficker.
According to released information, they were tested for coronavirus and are expected to be transferred to the quarantine structure in Lefkonia.
The Greek government has begun giving €2,000 to asylum seekers located on various Aegean islands, to incentivise them to go back to their home countries.
The Voluntary Return & Reintegration Programme (AVRR), which is funded by the European Union (EU), looks to support asylum seekers who wish to return to their countries. At the same time, it helps the Aegean islands, many of which are overwhelmed.
The programme was initially rolled out in March but has remained largely inactive due to the border closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The announcement also coincided with a surge of migrants attempting to cross over into Greece earlier this year after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan opened the gates to Europe for migrants in Turkey.
Greek officials estimated that well over 50,000 migrants attempted to cross into the country before Erdoğan was forced to close the borders due to the coronavirus outbreak.
