The agency said that worsening weather conditions, which make it more risky for migrants to cross the sea from Turkey to the Greek islands, are likely the main reason for the decrease.
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More than a dozen other people were rescued.
The small boat was carrying 13 Pakistani and Iraqi refugees to the Greek island of Kos when it sank off the Aegean resort town of Bodrum, Xinhua quoted state-run Dogan news agency as saying.
“The EU must ensure that its funding and migration cooperation with Turkey promotes rather than undermines the rights of refugees and migrants”.
Ankara pledged to help stem the flow of migrants to Europe in return for €3 billion ($3.18 billion) of support and the reestablishing of talks on European Union accession.
Most of the asylum seekers risking lives to reach European countries are from conflict-zones in Iraq, Syria and some African countries.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, visiting two islands that have become landing points for migrants arriving from Turkey, said Greece could not “accept that the Aegean is becoming a maritime cemetery”.
Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki said Thursday his government “does not want borders with barriers, which is not a long-term solution” but that the country of two million inhabitants faced an “even greater challenge” than Greece in trying to handle the huge numbers of people passing through its territory.
A spokeswoman for the EU said: “The EU is not aware of individual cases of “deportations” but the report will be considered with due attention, and followed up with the Turkish authorities, as appropriate”.
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According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 801 919 people have arrived in Greece by sea from the beginning of the year until December 17, with another 4256 having arrived by land.
