Numerous migrants seen setting off for Greece by an Associated Press team watching dead-of-night departures used a type of boat that can be ordered online for around 100 euros.
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Italian Navy Ship Commander Massimo Tozzi described the grim scene to Italian media, noting the “strong emotional impact” on rescuers, who opened the hold to find the dead piled on top of each other and submerged in water, fuel and human excrement.
A senior EU figure has said the issue of Greek islands struggling to cope with a huge influx of migrants arriving via Turkey could not be addressed until “domestic political developments” are resolved in Ankara.
“The majority of cases (of those rescued) are of irregular migrants who taken to sea in rubber boats which then sink in unfavourable seas”, the statement said.
An estimated 45,000 migrants have floated to Kos across the narrow strait from the Turkish coast this summer, overwhelming the island’s services and filling the roadsides and parks with makeshift tents. She says that causes resentment.
Five migrants died as they attempted to cross from Turkey to the Greek island of Kos on Tuesday, a local official said. Right-wing parties want the government to repatriate most of the newcomers immediately.
Turkish Coast Guard personnel carry a body bag with one of the five migrants who were drowned as they were trying to cross on a boat to the nearby Greek island of Kos, as they were brought to the port of Bodrum, Turkey, Tuesday, August 18, 2015. The prime minister’s chief of staff, Janos Lazar, says that the “border hunters” would step up efforts against the “increasingly aggressive migrants arriving with more resolute demands”.
Corabatir said it was a profitable business for smugglers and that the money they get varies according to the number of people who are waiting to cross and their destination.
Part of the reason is the sheer magnitude of the wave of migrants and refugees, which the Greek government has said is too much for such a crisis-ridden country – let alone an island such as Kos – to handle.
“We are gathering money, despite our limited capability”.
At least 124,000 people have reached Greece’s shores since January, according to the United Nations – more than seven times the amount recorded in the same period a year ago. The vast majority of last week’s arrivals were Syrians (16,997 people or 82% of the total), Afghans (2,847 or 14%) and Iraqis (582 or 3%), confirming that the overwhelming majority or arrivals are likely to qualify for refugee status.
“There is no infrastructure to manage their applications and paperwork, the police stations are understaffed, and there was no efficient plan on how to move the refugees”, he said. Tourism in Greece is worth over $31 billion a year with as many as 600 people employed within the tourist industry.
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“Do they not know that Iraq is also at war?” he said. He tells us to wait.
