One man died after a migrant boat sank near the island of Samos in Greece.
Neos Kosmos reports that 25 people described as “foreigners” were found on a “semi-submerged dinghy…and rescued from the sea west of the south Aegean island.”
According to the coastguard, the migrants were safely transferred to the port of Vathi.
Searches for missing people were embarked upon with the help of European Union border agency Frontex. State-run TV channel ERT reported survivors as saying four people were missing.
Greece has seen a rise in irregular migrants this year. According to official data, over 7,000 people arrived in January and February, an increase of 184 per cent compared to 2023. The country has received over 460,000 applications for asylum since 2013, including over 12,500 for this year.
Many people fleeing conflict or poverty have found the islands in the northeastern Aegean Sea are one of the gateways to reach the European Union countries.
Eighty-two people drowned, and hundreds went missing when a migrant trawler sank off the coast of Pylos in June 2023. Several enquiries into the tragedy are still underway, and certain NGOs have accused the Greek coastguard of delaying efforts to come to migrants’ aid.
