According to the statistics published by the Coast Guard, about 10,445 migrants entered Greece illegally via sea, during the first three months of 2015. In March alone 6,498 migrants were found to have crossed over through the Eastern Aegean.
This marks a dramatic three-fold increase compared to the first three months of 2014, when a total of 2,863 migrants were documented to have entered the country illegally.
The islands that have received the greatest waves of migration are Mytilene, with about 4,500 migrants currently held there, followed by Chios, Leros and Samos.
Migration via sea has surged since the construction of a fence on the border with Turkey in the north of Greece and the escalation of the ongoing conflicts and humanitarian crises in Syria and Iraq.
