Quelle: Daily News

The bodies of 24 migrants, including 10 children, were discovered off the Greek island of Samos Jan. 28 after their boat capsized, the Greek coastguard said.

Eleven people from a dinghy carrying 45 people were still listed as missing following the latest tragedy involving overladen migrant boats crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece.

Ten people were rescued unharmed.

Authorities initially said they had found 12 bodies but the number rose quickly as rescuers combed the waters for the missing.

There were „five boys and five girls among the victims, while 10 people were pulled from the water unharmed, but in a state of shock,“ a coastguard spokeswoman said.

The alert was raised by one of the survivors, who managed to swim to shore.

Greek ships and two vessels from the European border agency Frontex took part in the rescue operation.

There was no information yet on the migrants‘ country of origin.

Despite wintry conditions, thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa continue to make the treacherous sea journey to Europe, many paying with their lives.

Last week, 44 people drowned in a single day when three migrant boats ran into trouble in Greek waters.

On Jan. 27, rescuers found the bodies of seven drowned migrants, including two children, after their boat sank off the Greek island of Kos.

The latest tragedy comes as swamped Greek authorities are under pressure from their European counterparts to staunch the migrant flow.

The European Commission on Wednesday hit out at Athens, saying it had „seriously neglected“ its duty to protect the bloc’s frontiers and raising the prospect of other EU members imposing border controls for up to two years.

The UN says more than 46,000 migrants have arrived in Greece so far this year, with 200 people dying during the voyage.

Last year, Greece received over 850,000 arrivals.

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siehe auch: The Guardian

Sinking off Samos comes as first deaths of the year recorded on route from north Africa to Italy

At least 25 people have died after the latest refugee boat sinking off an eastern Greek island.

Coastguard vessels and boats from the European border patrol agency, Frontex, took part in a search and rescue operation off the island of Samos on Thursday. Ten people were rescued and at 25 bodies were recovered. It is believed there had been 45 people on the boat.

The coastguard said five of the rescued were found clinging to a piece of floating wood, leading authorities to believe they had been in a wooden vessel that sank. The survivors were in shock and unable to provide clear accounts of what happened. There was no information on their nation of origin.

On Wednesday another boat sank off the island of Kos, leaving seven dead, including two children. Two people were rescued in that incident.

Separately on Thursday, Italy’s navy rescued 290 people and recovered six bodies from the water near a half-sunk rubber boat, the first sea deaths recorded on the north Africa to Italy route this year, a spokesman said.

The navy rescued 109 people from a large rubber boat in the morning, and then 107 from a second boat a few hours later. When the navy arrived at a third rubber craft, it was sinking. They managed to pull 74 to safety, but six bodies were recovered from the water. A navy helicopter was continuing to search for survivors, the spokesman said.

Italy and Greece are on the frontline of Europe’s biggest immigration crisis since the second world war. Hundreds of people have died attempting to make the short but dangerous crossing from Turkey to Greece in unseaworthy, overcrowded vessels.

The sea route to Italy from Africa is even more dangerous. Of the more than 3,700 deaths in the Mediterranean in 2015, about 2,000 perished on the way to Italy from north Africa.

Some European countries have accused Greece of not doing enough to stem the flow of people. Athens has said it is both illegal and dangerous to attempt to turn back potential asylum seekers at sea, and that trying to do so would inevitably lead to yet more deaths.

Greece has asked for more help from other EU countries in the form of staff and equipment from Frontex, but says it has received far less than it needs.