17 Migrants Dead, Dozens More Missing After Boats Sink in Greek Waters

A Greek Coast Guard vessel sails, after a boat carrying migrants sank, off the island of Lesbos, Greece on Oct. 6, 2022. (Panagiotis Balaskas/Eurokinissi via Reuters)

At least 17 migrants, including one boy, have died, while dozens more are missing, after two boats sank in Greek waters on Thursday.

Authorities in Greece said on Thursday that they had recovered 17 bodies close to the eastern island of Lesbos after a dinghy that left the Turkish coast carrying about 40 people ran into trouble amid high winds. Ten women were rescued and around a dozen people were presumed missing.

“The women who were rescued were in a full state of panic so we are still trying to work out what happened,” coast guard spokesman Nikos Kokkalas told state television. “The women were all from African countries, aged 20 upward. ... There is a search on land as well as at sea and we hope that survivors made it to land.”

Greek Migration Minister Notis Mittarachi took to Twitter following the incident to call on Turkey to take “immediate action to prevent all irregular departures due to harsh weather conditions.”

“Already today many lives lost in the Aegean, people are drowning in unseaworthy vessels. EU must act,” he wrote.

In a separate tweet, Mittarachi shared video footage that he said showed the “Turkish coastguard violently pushing forward migrants to Greece, in violation of international law and the EU joint statement.”

He claimed the video footage was filmed by a refugee who was saved by Greek authorities.

‘We Could See The Boat Smashing Against The Rocks’

Turkish officials have previously denied claims that authorities have pushed migrants back to Greece. In a statement issued on Oct. 4, the Turkish coastguard command said the migrants involved in the latest incidents had been “pushed back to Turkish territorial waters by Greek assets.”

In a separate incident on Wednesday, Greek authorities rescued 80 migrants, of which 18 were minors, after a boat smashed into rocks and sank near the southern Greek island of Kythira amid stormy weather, officials said.

According to those rescued, 15 were still missing. Officials have launched a search-and-rescue operation along the wider coast of Lesbos to find migrants who may have made it to shore. Three were found trapped in a remote area.

“We could see the boat smashing against the rocks and people climbing up those rocks to try and save themselves. It was an unbelievable sight,” Martha Stathaki, a local resident told The Associated Press. “All the residents here went down to the harbor to try and help.”

Kythira is roughly 400 kilometers (250 miles) west of Turkey and located on a route that is often used by smugglers seeking to avoid waters around Greece, which are heavily patrolled, and head straight to Italy.

According to data on the Turkish coast guard’s official website, more than 37,000 illegal migrants were discovered in all seas surrounding Turkey this year, of which 6,328 were found in August alone.

Greece saw a wave of refugees enter the country between 2015 and 2016, when around a million fleeing war and poverty in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan arrived, mostly via Turkey.

Reuters contributed to this report.