Two detained over latest migrant boat disaster


Two suspects were detained after a boat carrying migrants sank off Turkey's Aegean coast on Sunday, claiming the lives of 25 people. Authorities identified the detainees as a Turkish smuggler and the owner of the boat that sank off Didim, a town in the western province of Aydın. The Coast Guard has been combing the sea for two missing migrants yesterday while three suspects including two Afghan nationals, are wanted for charges of smuggling and causing the deaths of migrants in the overcrowded boat. Migrants including Afghans and Syrians were traveling to a nearby Greek island when their boat sank. Fifteen survivors were rescued by the Coast Guard while bodies of 25 others including 10 children and 11 women were recovered on Sunday. Didim is among dozens of towns on Turkey's Aegean coast where migrants attempt to cross illegally to Greek islands on a daily basis. Some 166 migrants perished en route to the islands since January.The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says more than 125,000 people arrived in Greece from the Eastern Mediterranean route, which includes the Aegean Sea, since Jan. 1, 2016. European Union Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos has said Greece will likely receive another 100,000 migrants by the end of March.