About 46,000 refugees and migrants arrived at the islands of the northern Aegean in 2019, according to figures released by the North Aegean’s General Police Directorate on Thursday.

According to the data, a total of 27,148 migrants and refugees arrived on the island of Lesvos, another 8,076 persons arrived on Chios and 10,802 on Samos over the year. The number of arrivals on Lesvos was nearly double that in 2018 (14,906).

On Thursday, the number of asylum seekers at the overcrowded Moria hotspot and the surrounding areas had reached 18,747, of which 1,150 were unaccompanied minors. The total number of minors in Moria had reached 6,500.

According to figures released by Moria’s administration, 36 percent of the total population in Moria are men, 29 percent women and 35 percent under 18.

The nationalities of the asylum seekers hosted in Moria are as follows: 73 pct Afghans, 12 pct Syrians and 5 pct Somalis. The remaining 10 pct come from various other countries, mostly African.

[ANA-MPA]