4 Migrants Dead and Almost 39 Rescued After a Boat Sank Near Greek Island
As Reuters reports, a woman’s body was also found by the coast guard and at least 39 migrants who had sailed from Turkey were rescued,AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
In addition, the migrant children lost their lives after being hospitalised. Their nationality has not yet been made known.
One of the key points of entry into the European Union for refugees and immigrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia is Greece along with Spain and Italy as well.
At the same time, most of the asylum seekers cross to Greece from Turkey. A significant increase has also been seen in the number of migrants who are rescued while trying to reach Greece from the Turkish coast by boat.
Greece has been at the forefront of the influx of refugees and migrants since 2015, and hundreds have lost their lives in the Aegean Sea in the past eight years.
As a result, statistics from the International Organization for Migration revealed that so far, 2,246 people fleeing war and poverty are known to have lost their lives in the Eastern Mediterranean since 2014.
Last month, Greek authorities revealed that in 2022, around 1,300 smugglers were arrested and over 250,000 migrants were forced to cross the Evros River into Turkey.
In this regard, Greek Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said that the Greek border police are doing an excellent job in protecting the external border of the European Union.
In August 2022, the UN agency also revealed that dozens of people went missing after a boat capsized in the Aegean Sea on the Greek island of Karpathos, a southeast island between Rhodes and Crete.
News media reported that the ship sank at dawn after leaving southern Turkey, bound for Italy.
According to the Greek Coast Guard, 29 people, all men, were rescued from the sea 33 nautical miles east-southeast of Karpathos.
In late June of last year, Greece accused Turkey of sending more than 1,100 migrants to Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.
Greek authorities pointed out that boats with smuggled migrants have been turned back in 24 immediate incidents. Moreover, the same stated that boats have been seen near the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Rhodes.
