EUROPE-MIGRANTS/TURKEY-COAST GUARD Turkish coast guard intercepts migrants boats set for Greek Islands
Record ID:
142263
EUROPE-MIGRANTS/TURKEY-COAST GUARD Turkish coast guard intercepts migrants boats set for Greek Islands
- Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/TURKEY-COAST GUARD Turkish coast guard intercepts migrants boats set for Greek Islands
- Date: 27th August 2015
- Summary: KUCUKKUYU, TURKEY (AUGUST 27, 2015) (REUTERS) COAST GUARD FERRY CARRYING MIGRANTS SAILING TO PORT VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS DISEMBARKING WOMEN SITTING AT PORT VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS SEATED VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS GETTING INTO BUS MIGRANTS AT PORT BUS LEAVING
- Embargoed: 11th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA1XFXCCWPF9OGDHSB74XZ5YJ64
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Turkish coast guard brought some 114 migrants to a port at Kucukkuyu district on Thursday (August 27) after intercepting around 170 migrants trying to cross to Greece.
The remaining migrants were taken to another village, a Turkish coast guard told Reuters.
In a separate incident on Tuesday (August 25) Turkish Coast Guard rescued 73 Syrian migrants off coast Mugla after their boat sunk as they set sail to the Greek Island of Rhodes.
Turkey's position as a bridge from Asia to Europe, as well as its wealth compared to neighbouring states, has long made it both a destination and a transit point for migrants from the Middle East and as far afield as Africa and South Asia.
The northeastern island of Lesbos, in particular, has been a magnet for migrants making the short sea crossing from Turkey with two to three thousand arrivals daily, more than a three-fold increase, according to the International Rescue Committee.
Greece, mired in its worst economic crisis in generations, has been found largely unprepared for a mass influx of refugees, mainly Syrians.
They are among the tens of thousands who have entered Greece illegally since the beginning of the year, representing what the European Union has described as one of the biggest humanitarian crises since World War Two.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimates that Greece has received more than 107,000 refugees and migrants this year, more than double its 43,500 intake of 2014.
From several accounts of people who are now in reception centres on the island - waiting for papers to move to other European countries - dinghies are the primary means of transport across a sea strait about 20 km between Turkey and Lesbos. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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