I.At least 30 migrants have drowned in the Aegean since Wednesday. Dozens are still missing. The Greek coast guard announced on Saturday. The government blamed Turkey and unscrupulous smugglers for this. “Smuggling gangs continue their criminal activity unhindered. They are murderers, ”said Minister of Shipping Giannis Plakiotakis on Greek television. Turkey is not stopping the departure of such boats. The smugglers use rotten boats that have no rescue equipment on board and are extremely dangerous, said the minister.
On Saturday night, fishermen and the coast guard recovered 16 bodies after a refugee boat capsized off the holiday island of Paros. Eleven people were killed northwest of Crete on Thursday. 90 people were able to reach a rock island. Three migrants drowned on Wednesday when another boat went down in the Aegean Sea near the island of Folegandros. The death toll could be much greater with dozens of people still missing.
Greek Coast Guard officers estimated that around 11,000 people had managed to reach Italy on this route from Turkey through the Aegean and Ionian Seas in the past few months. There is no official information on how many people were killed.
Private aid to hundreds of people in the Mediterranean
The migrants undertake this dangerous journey because they want to avoid having to stay in the registration camps on the islands in the east of the Aegean for long periods of time when crossing from Turkey to Lesbos, Chios or other Greek islands. However, due to the long journey through the Mediterranean south or north of Crete, machine damage or leaks often occur on the often outdated boats that people smugglers sell to people.
Meanwhile, private sea rescuers came to the aid of hundreds of people in the Mediterranean at Christmas. The crew of the “Sea-Watch 3” rescued around 300 people from distress at sea, according to information on Saturday. The “Geo Barents” took in dozen more refugees on Christmas Eve and had more than 550 men, women and children on board.
The organization Sea-Watch announced on Twitter on Saturday that around 180 people were brought to safety from two boats in distress by the “Sea-Watch 3” during the night and early Christmas morning. The crew of the ship, which set out on its mission in the Mediterranean on December 22, had already rescued 93 people on Friday.
“Doctors Without Borders”, who operate the rescue ship “Geo Barents”, reported the rescue of 100 refugees and migrants from a wooden boat on Christmas Eve. After eight rescue missions, 558 people are now on board.
Meanwhile, more than a week after being rescued, the refugees on the Ocean Viking were given permission to go ashore in Sicily. The Italian authorities had approved the landing in Trapani, said the SOS Méditerranée rescuers on Twitter on Friday evening: “This is a moment of great joy and relief on board the Ocean Viking this Christmas Eve”. According to the helpers, the 114 rescued included two newborns and one other child under three years of age. A total of 31 minors were rescued, almost all of them unaccompanied.
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