Children among eight dead in Greece migrant shipwreck

Coastguard say 39 people rescued after boat sank amid strong winds

The port city of Vathy, on Samos island, and its refugee and migrant camp in the background. AP

The Greek coastguard has confirmed that eight migrants, six children and two women, drowned when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea. Greek police found a further 36 people alive in the northern part of Samos, while three people, trapped in a rocky area on the island, were rescued by coastguard officers, the coastguard said.

Greece has long been a favoured gateway to Europe for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The incident occurred north of the island of Samos, a route frequently chosen by people smugglers.

Greece has seen a 25 per cent increase this year in the number of people fleeing war and poverty, with a 30 per cent increase alone to Rhodes and the south-east Aegean, according to the migration ministry. In 2015 about one million people landed on its islands.

So far this year, about 54,000 migrants have reached Greece, the second-largest number in southern Europe behind Italy. The vast majority of them arrived by sea, according to data from the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.

Several similar accidents have occurred in the past weeks, the last in early November when four people died near the island of Rhodes. In late October, two people died near the island of Samos. Four more, including two infants, were lost near the island of Kos a few days earlier.

Earlier this year the Greek coastguard faced allegations that it has caused deaths of dozens of migrants, including nine who were deliberately thrown into the sea. Analysis by the BBC found that more than 40 people are alleged to have died as a result of the coastguard’s actions, either by being forced out of Greek waters or taken back to sea after reaching the shore.