Two migrant boats capsize en route to Europe, killing at least 23
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – In two separate incidents, 23 migrants trying to reach Europe have died after the boats they travelled in capsized in Greek and Turkish waters.
A boat carrying more than 50 migrants, including people from the Kurdistan Region, sank in the Ionian Sea south-west of the Greek island of Paxos on Saturday, killing 12.
"A boat carrying migrants [on Saturday] drowned off Greece’s Paxos island," Ari Jalal, head of The Summit Foundation for Refugee and Displaced Affairs (Lutka) told Rudaw on Sunday. "The boat was carrying more than 50 people, including many from the Kurdistan Region."
The foundation learned Kurds were in the capsized boat when relatives concerned about the fate of family members heading to Italy from Greece contacted them, Jalal added.
"We began to follow up on the incidents with the Greek coastal teams," he said. "It is not immediately known whether or not the Kurdish migrants have died."
Follow-ups by the foundation found that 15 Kurds were among those on board. Pishti News, an Athens-based Kurdish media outlet based in Europe with a focus on immigrant and refugee issues, reported "eight or nine" Kurds were among those rescued.
"Unfortunately, the fate of some of them is still unknown," Jalal added.
"After the boat sank, Greek coastal police immediately begun their search operations, managing to rescue 21 migrants and taking out the 12 bodies [of the deceased],” he added.
"A remaining 17 migrants are still missing," he added.
The cause of the capsize was also unclear, according to The New York Times citing Coast Guard spokesman Nikolaos Lagadianos.
Saturday's incident is a repeat of the all too frequent sinking of ill-equipped migrant boats between Turkey and Greece in recent years, drowning hundreds of mostly Syrians fleeing war in their home country.
On Friday night, 11 migrants including eight children were killed when their boat drowned off the coast of western Turkey, Anadolu Agency quoted the Turkish Coast Guard as saying.
Citing municipal officials in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, Rudaw reporter Rawin Sterk said all the migrants were from Syria and that six people, including the owner of the boat, were arrested by Turkey’s coastguard.
According to Lutka, 371 migrants have managed to reach the Greek island of Lesbos since the beginning of 2020, on seven boats that travelled through Turkish waterways.
Updated 3:11 pm