Two Syrian girls die after migrant boat sinks off Antalya
by Compiled from Wire Services
ISTANBULDec 16, 2015 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Compiled from Wire Services
Dec 16, 2015 12:00 am
Two girls aged 7 and 11 of Syrian origin died Tuesday when a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of Kaş, a town in the southern province of Antalya.
The unidentified girls were among 22 others heading to Greece from the town. Seventeen others were rescued by the Turkish and Greek Coast Guards while three others were reported missing.
Migrants were travelling in a rubber boat, the most common and also the most dangerous means of transportation for thousands of migrants who have been attempting to reach to Greece, their gateway to Europe, from the Turkish coast, which lies only a few miles away.
Media reports said a 4-month-old baby was among those rescued by the Coast Guard.
The two victims add to hundreds of casualties that perished in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas this year as more refugees from Syria, displaced by a long-standing conflict, head to Europe in an unprecedented surge.
According to December figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 627 people have died in the Aegean Sea en route to Greece from Turkey. Though no data is available on the nationalities of the migrants, Syrians are believed to form the majority of migrants seeking a better life in Europe, along with Afghanistan where the Taliban threat still looms large. More than 770,000 migrants have arrived in Greece this year, according to IOM figures.
Turkey, due to its proximity to both Syria and Greece, struggles to cope with the influx and repeatedly urges the international community to help resolve the conflict in Syria to prevent a further refugee flow, as well as financial aid to help the more than 2 million refugees it hosts.
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