ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Four people, including two children, have died after a boat carrying migrants ran aground on a rocky shoreline on the eastern Greek island of Samos, officials said Thursday.
Sixteen people were rescued, but it remained unclear how many were aboard the boat. The Greek coast guard launched a search-and-rescue operation involving patrol vessels, lifeboats, and land teams to locate any potential missing passengers.
A Greek government official said he expected the risk facing migrants to rise over the winter months, and blamed conflicts in the Middle East for a swell in illegal crossings this year.
The incident comes after eight migrants – six children and two women – died in a shipwreck off the island on Monday.
Samos and other Greek islands in the eastern Aegean Sea are key transit points for migrants crossing from Turkey to the European Union, with arrivals in recent months that Greek authorities say is linked to ongoing wars in the Middle East and parts of Africa.
“The conditions are certainly not favorable,” Migration Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos told private Skai television Thursday.
“They do not tend towards reducing the flow of migrants, but rather increasing them – with all the geopolitical turmoil, especially in the Middle East, with ongoing wars and other issues,” he said.
Panagiotopoulos said he expected the risk of tragedies in the eastern Aegean to increase in the coming weeks as weather conditions worsen, and added that Greece will renew efforts to seek European Union funding for border wall construction under the next Polish presidency of the EU, which starts on Jan. 1.
Separately Thursday, police announced the arrest of nine people accused of operating a smuggling ring that allegedly provided migrants with false and illegally used documents to travel to western European cities.
The group, active since July, provided migrants with safe housing, clothing, and travel documents before escorting them to Athens International Airport, police said. Fees for those services ranged from 3,000 to 5,000 euros ($3,150-5,250).
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