Ten people drowned while 43 others were rescued after a boat carrying
migrants to Greece sank off Turkey's western coast, Turkish news agency
Dogan reported on Saturday.
More than one million refugees and migrants arrived by land and sea
in the European Union last year and some 3,600 died or went missing.
The Turkish coast guard was continuing search and rescue efforts
where the boat sank off the coast of Ayvacik, a town across from the
Greek island of Lesvos.
It was not immediately clear how many migrants
had been on board.
Five of those killed were children, the Dogan news agency said, and
rescued migrants were hospitalised with hypothermia symptoms. It said
the migrants were of Syrian, Afghan and Myanmar origin.
Around 500,000 refugees from the five-year-old war in Syria traveled
through Turkey and then risked their lives at sea to reach Greek islands
in 2015. Despite the winter conditions and rough seas, the exodus has
continued, albeit at a slower pace.
Turkey is the first stop on Syrian migrants' journey to the European Union.
Turkey struck a deal with the EU in November pledging to help stem
the flow of migrants to Europe in return for 3 billion euros ($3.3
billion) in financial aid for the 2.5 million Syrian refugees it is
hosting, as well as renewed talks on joining the 28-nation bloc.
No comments:
Post a Comment