Greece - At least 17 people have died in the Aegean Sea after a dinghy carrying migrants capsized near Lesbos. Following another shipwreck off the island of Kythira, many are still missing.
Survivors told authorities the dinghy had set sail with about 40 passengers under cover of darkness from the Turkish coast. While the bodies of 17 people had been recovered and 10 had been saved, a dozen were presumed missing.
It is reported the victims were young African women.
In a separate incident hundreds of miles west, at least five people were thought to have died overnight when another boat ran aground off Kythira, to the south of the Peloponnese. In winds of up to 63mph (101km/h), the vessel went down in a notoriously rocky area east of the island’s main port of Diakofti. Local media said about 100 people from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan were thought to have been crammed on to the sailboat, and that passengers screamed for help as the boat foundered and sank.
By Thursday morning, 80 people had been rescued, of whom at least 13 were taken to Kythira’s hospital.
Both vessels are suspected of travelled from neighbouring Turkey.
According to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), since January 2022, 64 people have died trying to cross into Europe from Turkey, compared to 111 for the whole of last year.
This route – across the Mediterranean and Aegean - remains a key route for migrants and asylum seekers. However, the incidents are another reminder of the risks, especially now as winter weather arrives in the region bringing treacherous conditions on the high seas.
The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, also expressed sorrow for the tragic loss of life as he attended an EU meeting in Prague.
Athens has fiercely denied accusations of pushing back asylum seekers before they are able to file claims. On Wednesday, Mitarachi countered that Turkey was “violently pushing forward migrants to Greece, in violation of international law” as part of a broader “weaponisation” policy.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told the United Nations general assembly last month that Greece’s “oppressive policies” towards refugees and migrants were turning the Aegean into a “graveyard”.
-VN/Guardian