EU-Turkey Deal – Visualising data from the Greek Hotspots 2016-2023 – Greece
INTRODUCTION
This report visualises data from the Greek hotspots between 2016-2023. The visualisations have
been rendered from a dataset based on an open-source literature review which provides the first
comprehensive and (almost) complete overview of data from the hotspots on the Greek islands
between 2016 and 2023. The dataset and used reports are on file with Boat Refugee Foundation
and could be made available upon request.
For each hotspot island (Lesvos, Samos, Chios, Leros and Kos) the dataset covers the number of new
arrivals, people forced to stay at the hotspots (and their capacity) and returns to Turkey (under the EU-Turkey
Statement). The data also includes the number of people forced to stay in the hotspots and the capacity of
each facility as well as demographics such as country of origin and gender.
Data in English and Greek has been collected and aggregated from the UNHCR data portal1 the IOM
Global Data Institute Displacement Tracking Matrix2 and the Hellenic Republic Ministry of Migration &
Asylum.3 To compare data, reports from Aegean Boat Report have been consulted.
When multiple data sources were reported on a single data point (for example, if three reports mentioned
differentiating numbers of arrivals in October 2022) an average was used. Where necessary, data was
converted to a monthly unit. Numbers in graphs have been rounded to one decimal place. The total of
people in hotspots between April and December 2016 is an average based on 53 daily UNHCR reports and
could be less accurate than other years.
The Hellenic Ministry of Migration and Asylum, between 2022 and 2023 reported the capacity of the
Mavrouvoni Temporary Closed Controlled Access Centre on Lesvos as 8,000. Discrepancies in reporting,
including inconsistent reporting from the Ministry itself, have raised questions regarding the accuracy of this
figure. Sources suggest that the actual capacity of the Lesvos facility is approximately 3,840 individuals.
The data presented in this report encompasses both the ‘official capacity’ and the corrected ‘real capacity’
(3,840) observed between January 2022 and December 2023. From February 2024 onwards, Ministry
reports have been adjusted to reflect the revised capacity, reducing the capacity of the Lesvos facility to
3,840.
Boat Refugee Foundation wishes to thank the following people for their editorial and research assistance:
Haley Ritsema (data consultant), Johannes Mulder and Esther Tiefengraber
