Migrant crisis: Boat sinking off Didim, Turkey claims 25 lives
I found my weekly news story on the BBC News Page. This story is regarding a boat carrying
migrants from Turkey to Greece has sunk with the loss of 25 lives as Turkey's
coast guard says.
Fifteen people were rescued after
the boat capsized near the Turkish resort of Didim.
Reports suggest Macedonia has set
new curbs on Syrian migrants trying to cross the land border from Greece.
Nato is expanding its mission in
the Aegean to send patrols to Turkish and Greek territorial waters in the
battle to defeat people smugglers.
Secretary General Jens
Stoltenberg said in a statement:
"The purpose of Nato's deployment is not to stop or push back migrant
boats, but to help our allies Greece and Turkey, as well as the European Union,
in their efforts to tackle human trafficking and the criminal networks that are
fuelling this crisis."
An emergency summit will take
place between the EU and Turkey on Monday to try to seek a common approach to
handling the flow of arrivals.
A Turkish search and rescue
operation was launched after the latest sinking in the Aegean Sea.
At least three children are
believed to be among those who died.
The International Organization
for Migration (IOM) says at least 321 migrants drowned trying to get to Greece
between 1 January and 3 March.
More than 2,000 migrants, most of
whom the IOM says are from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, are arriving into
Greece from Turkey every day hoping to travel further north through Europe.
But some EU countries re-imposed
internal border controls and Macedonia sharply reduced the numbers allowed to
cross, leading to a build-up on the Greek side of the border.
On Sunday, reports from the
border said Macedonia had stopped allowing entry to anyone from areas in Iraq
and Syria it did not consider to be active conflict zones.

No comments:
Post a Comment