Dozens of Migrants Disappear in Aegean Sea After Boat Sinks
Through a post on Twitter on August 10, the UNHCR office in Greece said that this is very sad news from the Aegean,AtoZSerwisPlus.comreports.
In addition, news media reported that the ship sank at dawn after leaving southern Turkey on Tuesday, bound for Italy.
“A major search and rescue operation is underway,” UNHCR pointed out in this regard.
The coast guard revealed that 29 people, all men, had been rescued from the sea 33 nautical miles east-southeast of Karpathos, a southeastern island between Rhodes and Crete.
The survivors were from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran and told authorities that there were approximately 60 to 80 people on board of the ship when it went down. A Greek Coast Guard press officer also claimed that around 50 of the 80 people on board the boat are now missing.
The boat had sailed from Antalya, located on the southern coast of neighbouring Turkey. The route from Turkey to Greece is the most common sea route for asylum seekers from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa to reach Europe.
Since the beginning of the year, UNHCR has discovered that more than 60 people have died in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The crossings in the Aegean Sea between the Greek islands and the Turkish coast are often described as dangerous, claiming the lives of many migrants and refugees who travel in makeshift boats in the hope of reaching Europe.
Data provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) also shows that since January, 64 people have died in the eastern Mediterranean and 111 in 2021.
According to the IOM, eight people lost their lives in the last shipwreck in the Aegean Sea on the island of Mykonos, which happened on June 19.
In addition, the number of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe is lower than in 2015, and the journeys have become increasingly deadly.
In 2021 the UN had counted 3,231 migrants and refugees dead or missing in the Mediterranean Sea and 945 people so far this year.
Previously, through a post on Twitter, the medical charity group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced that nearly 100 people had died over the past weekend in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to reach Europe.
It was also reported that this group of migrants had left Libya and were trying to cross into Europe.
