Türkiye on Monday rescued two migrant groups, totaling 81, seeking to cross the Aegean Sea to Greece in inflatable dinghies, authorities announced on Tuesday.
A group of 49 irregular migrants was found off the coast of western Izmir province’s Dikili district, and another 32 to the north of Çanakkale’s Ayvacık district, after they were pushed back into Turkish territorial waters by Greece, Türkiye’s coast guard revealed.
All 81 migrants, whose nationalities were not reported, were taken to a provincial migration office in Çanakkale.
The two rescue operations on Monday were not the only ones that day. The Turkish Coast Guard Command rescued a total of 384 irregular migrants, many of whom were pushed back by Greece, from Türkiye’s western waters throughout that day.
Türkiye has often called out Greece for its inhumane treatment of migrants, which on numerous occasions causes migrants to drown in the Aegean. Most recently, the Turkish coast guard recovered the bodies of two migrant women, along with 43 other migrants, near Aydın province last week. One of the rescued migrants said the two women, one of whom had been five months pregnant, fell off the rubber boat and drowned after Greek officers dismantled their engine, dragged them with a rope through a sea storm that eventually caused the boat to leak in water.
Turkish authorities said they were investigating the fatal incident.
The Aegean Sea, the elongated arm of the Mediterranean between Türkiye and EU member Greece, is seen as an entry point for many refugees and migrants hoping to reach Western Europe. Hundreds of thousands of irregular migrants, who fall prey to smugglers while chasing the dream of a new life, strive to reach Greece undeterred by bad weather and hostile maritime conditions.
The International Organization for Migration has recorded nearly 2,000 migrants as dead or missing in the Mediterranean Sea this year alone.
On top of grappling with Aegean waves, these migrants come face-to-face with death because of pushbacks and inhumane practices carried out by Greece in its campaign to "fight irregular migration."
Human rights groups and media outlets have frequently reported on illegal pushbacks and other human rights breaches by Greek authorities. Ankara and global rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece’s illegal practice, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants.
A report by Türkiye’s Ombudsman Institution said in July earlier this year that Greece has pushed back nearly 42,000 asylum-seekers since 2020.
Between Jan. 1 and Dec. 16 of this year, the Turkish Coast Guard Command’s Aegean Command Station has saved 47,498 irregular migrants in 1,550 separate cases across areas under its jurisdiction.
Despite in-depth investigations, scrutiny and evidence by media and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), alongside abundant testimony from victims, Greek authorities have consistently denied the pushbacks. Greece's conservative government, elected in 2019, has vowed to make the country "less attractive" to migrants.