41 migrants found alive in refrigerated lorry in Greece

The country is currently struggling with the biggest resurgence in refugee and migrant arrivals since 2015

Emergency services are on the scene where 41 migrants have been found in the back of a lorry (AFP/Getty)

Greek police discovered 41 migrants, mostly Afghans, hiding in a refrigerated lorry at a motorway in northern Greece on Monday, officials said.

The find came 10 days after 39 bodies, all believed to be Vietnamese migrants, were discovered in the back of a refrigerated lorry near Essex. Two people have been charged in Britain and eight in Vietnam over the deaths.

The refrigeration system in the lorry where the migrants were found in northern Greece had not been turned on, and none of the migrants were injured, though some asked for medical assistance, a Greek police official said.

Police had stopped the truck near the city of Xanthi for a routine check, arresting the driver and taking him and the migrants to a nearby police station for identification.

Greece is currently struggling with the biggest resurgence in arrivals of migrants and refugees since 2015, when more than a million crossed into Europe from Turkey via Greece.

Most of them are reaching the Greek Aegean islands close to the Turkish coast via boats but a large number also come overland, using a river border crossing with Turkey.

Road accidents, mainly in northern Greece, involving migrants trying to cross into other countries have become more frequent in recent years. Police have arrested dozens of people believed to be involved in human trafficking so far in 2019.

About 34,000 asylum seekers and refugees are being held in overcrowded camps on the Aegean islands under conditions which human rights groups have slammed as appalling.

The conservative government that came to power in July has vowed to move up to 20,000 off the islands and deport 10,000 people who do not qualify for asylum by the end of 2020.

Arrivals of unaccompanied children have also increased. About 1,000 minors have arrived since July, the Greek labour ministry said, with the total number estimated at over 5,000.

A fifth of them are now missing, the ministry said, pledging to build more facilities and shelters for migrant children.

Reuters