Greece’s coast guard says it has rescued 830 people in 20 search and rescue operations between Wednesday morning and Thursday morning off eastern Aegean islands.
Advertisement
The first bodies to be retrieved were those of a woman, two young girls and a baby, the coastguard said.
The Greek Shipping ministry said during September, Greek authorities rescued 141,919 undocumented migrants and refugees in 795 incidents.
Nearly 2 million Syrian refugees are living in Turkey, and hundreds of thousands have already left there this year to cross into Greece.
In total, more than 3,000 died trying to reach European shores on overcrowded boats since the beginning of the year. “More importantly, we would have been able to treat all those people who are seeking for a better life in Europe in a more humane manner”, he said.
European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos (l) talks to migrant children through a metal fence at the “Morias” camp, near the port of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesvos on Friday.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker reiterated the idea on Wednesday in the European Parliament.
EU Vice-President Frans Timmermans and other senior officials arrived in Turkey on Wednesday to press officials on the scheme, having postponed their visit after deadly suicide bombings in Ankara at the weekend.
Leaders will discuss a possible safe zone that Turkey wants to establish on its border with war-torn Syria, but Tusk said he would be focusing on more “pragmatic and realistic” issues.
She said: “Turkey has been shouldering this responsibility for four years and whatever you may think, they deserve support”.
The vast majority head north to more prosperous European Union countries, and the sharp increase arrivals has triggered an EU crisis.
Advertisement
The hotspots in Greece and Italy, agreed by European Union leaders at a summit last month, were reportedly aimed at separating the new arrivals between bona fide refugees and economic migrants – at their first point-of-entry into the bloc. This was followed a week later by a decision to relocate 120,000 from Italy, Greece and other member states directly affected by the refugee crisis.
