Quelle: Daily News

At least 39 people, including five children, drowned off Turkey’s western coast on Jan. 30, the Turkish Coast Guard said, in the latest tragedy involving migrants in the region.

A patrol was able to save 62 refugees, while one Turkish citizen was detained for his alleged role in organizing the trip.

Their boat was heading for Lesbos, one of the main Greek islands located just a few kilometers off Turkey’s Aegean coastline.

Among the casualties were nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar and Syria.

According to the coast guard, their vessel set off from near Bademli, a village in Çanakkale province, before running into trouble during the crossing and sinking.

Turkey’s Aegean provinces – Çanakkale, Balıkesir, İzmir, Muğla and Aydın – are prime spots for migrants leaving Turkey for the EU, with many Greek islands lying within sight of the Turkish coast.

Over the past year, hundreds of thousands have made short but perilous journeys in a bid to reach northern and western Europe in search for a better life.

Of the more than 1.1 million refugees who arrived in the EU last year, more than 850,000 arrived by sea in Greece from Turkey, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Over the course of the year, 805 people died in the Aegean.

In the first month of 2016, more than 52,000 people arrived by sea in Greece and 218 have died off the Turkish coast, the IOM said.

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siehe auch: Yeni Safak

Refugee boat sinks in Aegean Sea: 39 dead

39 people, including children, dead after a boat carrying refugees sank

At least 39 people, including women and children, dead after a boat carrying Myanmar, Afghan and Syrian-origin refugees sank in the Aegean Sea off the Turkish coast on Tuesday.

The incident occurred in Ayvacık town of Western Çanakkale province.

The Turkish coast guards have rescued 75 people who were in danger of drowning in their attempt to reach Greece’s Lesbos Island from the Bademli village of Ayvacık town.

A recent video emerged showing human smugglers waiting for refugees on the coast of the island of Lesbos.

More than one million refugees arrived in Europe by sea in 2015, according to the figures of the United Nations Refugee Agency.

EU counts on Turkey for solution

The EU is counting on Ankara to stem the flow of refugees from Turkey into the EU countries.

A large number of the total arrivals are Syrian people fleeing the Syrian civil war, which has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced half of the population.

At least 11 million Syrians have been made homeless by the Syrian Civil War; 7.6 million of the total are internally displaced and the remainder are living as refugees in different countries.