Greece suspends asylum applications for migrants from North Africa

Greece will stop processing asylum applications from people coming from North Africa for three months after a rise in arrivals on the island of Crete, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday.

Sea arrivals from northeastern Libya of migrants trying to cross to Europe through Greece’s southern islands of Crete and Gavdos have surged to more than 7,300 this year, according to estimates by the Greek government and aid agencies.

That compares with around 5,000 in the whole of 2004.