5 dead after migrant boats sink off Greece

Athens, Aug 30:  Five people lost their lives as two boats carrying migrants capsized in Greek territorial waters in the Aegean Sea, authorities said. A woman died, while her child and another 35 passengers of a boat that sank off Samos island were rescued, Xinhua news agency quoted the Hellenic Coast Guard as saying late Monday. In a similar incident that occurred off Lesvos island, four people died when a boat carrying migrants sank. Eighteen people were rescued. The victims near Lesvos were an 11-month-old baby, an 8-year-old girl, an 8-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, Greek Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said. Expressing his condolences for the loss of lives, Varvitsiotis condemned “the smuggling networks and their associates in Turkey and Greece that continue to put in danger the lives of innocent people, including minors, for profit”. Greek authorities report increased arrivals of undocumented migrants and refugees this year compared to 2022 via the Aegean Sea or the land border with Turkey. “On average we record 150-200 arrivals per day lately in the Aegean Sea,” Migration and Asylum Minister Dimitris Kairidis told Greek national broadcaster ERT on Monday.