A child has died and another was hospitalised after a makeshift boat packed with dozens of refugees and migrants capsized off the coast of Lesbos, Greek port police said.
Two children were found “unconscious” after the vessel overturned at approximately 8:30am local time (06:30 GMT) in the Aegean Sea on Monday, a spokesperson told AFP news agency.
More:
In Pictures: Refugees stream towards Greece as Turkey opens gates
Islanders on Lesbos block camp and port as refugee arrivals spike
Greece on the defensive as Turkey opens border to refugees
One young boy could not be revived, while the other was taken to hospital and is now considered out of danger. A further 46 people are safe following the rescue, the official said.
Greece’s coastguard alleged that the occupants of the boat deliberately overturned it as a coastguard vessel approached.
“The coastguards’ account of this encounter is that the vessel, a rubber dinghy, approached the maritime border line accompanied by a Turkish coastguard vessel, which then turned away once they had ensured the vessel had entered Greek waters,” said Al Jazeera’s John Psaropoulos, reporting from Lesbos.
In a statement on Sunday, Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas alleged Turkey had been encouraging people to test the Greek border.
“Instead of curtailing networks of people smugglers, Turkey has itself become a smuggler,” said Petsas.
Thousands of refugees and migrants are trying to find a way across Turkey’s western border with Greece, with only dozens managing to pass through either border fences or crossing the river that runs along the frontier.
At least 1,000 refugees and migrants have reached Greece’s Eastern Aegean islands since Sunday morning, a police official told Reuters news agency.
This comes after Turkey opened its side of the frontier to refugees and migrants to leave the country for Europe. Others are trying to reach Greek islands from the Turkish coast.
Turkey declared its borders open amid a Russia-backed Syrian government offensive into Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.
“It is a very large increase compared with usual inflows,” reported Psaropoulos.
“People here on the island have been getting very nervous about whether that will continue – and some people have been showing persistent determination and resolve to prevent the authorities from doing what they normally do, which is search-and-rescue at sea and resupply of the camp at Moria.
“They have been blocking the roads to the camp – to camera crews, all journalists, to the authorities and also to any who have any work at the camp. This is the attitude we have seen on the island in the past 24 hours.”
Greece’s prime minister also announced he was freezing asylum applications following a meeting of the National Security Council on Sunday.
“As of now, we will not be accepting any new asylum applications for one month,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted. Greece is currently processing 125,000 applications and appeals.
Greece is invoking Article 78 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which allows the EU to provide Athens with assistance in an “emergency situation characterised by a sudden inflow of nationals of third countries”.
Greece’s land border with Turkey is 160km (99 miles) long and contains natural defences such as the Evros river and its marshy delta. Greece has, in recent months, reinforced it with extra patrols and thermal cameras.
The maritime border, hundreds of kilometres long, is patrolled by about 40 Greek coastal patrol vessels and boats, aided by a European Border and Coast Guard Agency force.
Continue Reading…
