ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The United Nations refugee agency has expressed concern about a rise in deaths among migrants trying to reach Greece by sea in small boats from Turkey, following two fatal shipwrecks this week.
The UNHCR said in a statement on Friday that 17 people have died in such accidents this month, while the total so far this year is at least 45 deaths.
Since January 1, about 56,000 people have entered Greece illegally, mainly by sea. That is the highest level in five years, and the number already exceeded government estimates in October of around 50,000 arrivals by the end of the year.
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The UNHCR representative in Greece, Maria Clara Martin, said the migrant deaths “highlight the urgent need for long-term responses and safer and credible alternatives” for people fleeing conflict, persecution, violence or human rights violations.
“Counting lives lost at sea cannot become a norm – we should not get used to it,” she said.
The UN agency said that in this week’s two fatal accidents off the eastern Aegean island of Samos, which is close to the Turkish coast, a mother lost three of her children, while another survivor lost his wife and daughter.
Greek authorities have blamed this year’s increase in migrants on conflicts in the Middle East. As there is a surge of people attempting the long and dangerous crossing across the Mediterranean from Libya to the southern Greek island of Crete, most migrants are paying smuggling gangs to transport them from Turkey to the eastern Aegean islands.
On Friday, the Greek coast guard said it had arrested a 17-year-old Turkish youth on suspicion of landing 16 migrants – including three children – on the eastern island of Chios.
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