Fewer than 5,400 migrants are now living in the once overcrowded and unhygienic camps on the Greek islands in the eastern Aegean.
The figure from the Ministry of Migration includes those on the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Leros and Kos in August. In June, the number stood at 7,700.
In April 2020, a total of around 40,000 people were in the camps, in sometimes horrific conditions that prompted international outrage.
Most of the remaining migrants are living in the Mavrovouni camp, usually referred to as the Kara Tepe camp, on Lesbos. Currently, 3,400 people are there. The camp has a capacity of 8,000 people.
The camp on the outskirts of the capital of Samos, with a reception capacity for 650 people, now houses 612 migrants. Only a few months ago, six times more people were living there.
Around 500 people also live in the camps on Kos, Leros and Chios.
Almost 1,000 migrants live in smaller shelters run by aid organizations or in flats on these islands.
Greece in recent months has transferred thousands of migrants who are likely to be granted asylum to the mainland, including pregnant women, older or sick people, and children.
At the same time, Greece has been tightening surveillance over its maritime borders.
Some aid organizations have accused Athens of allowing illegal repatriation measures - known as pushbacks - to force migrants back to Turkey.
The Greek government, however, argues that it is protecting its own national borders, which are also EU borders.
There will be no more chaotic situations like the one in 2015, Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis has repeatedly stressed. Back then, more than 850,000 migrants arrived in Greece from Turkey.
