The Turkish Coast Guard rescued 53 migrants, most of them women and children, from a sinking rubber dinghy on Friday off the coast of Izmir.

The migrants set sail from the Seferihisar district of western Izmir province. The 53 migrants boarded the rubber boat in hopes of reaching Greece.

According to the coast guard, the migrants sent out a distress call around 2:40 a.m. when the boat started to take in water.

The coast guard quickly located the migrants 6 nautical miles off the coast of Seferihisar and arrived at the scene with three rescue boats and a helicopter to rescue the migrants from drowning.

According to officials, the migrant group consisted of individuals from 10 different countries. 17 women and 12 children were among the group..

After the migrants were identified, they were transferred to the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management.

Once swarmed with dinghies packed with migrants, the Aegean Sea has been relatively calm in the last year, compared to the past years, however, migrants are still trickling in to the nearby Greek islands. The decline is largely thanks to a deal between the EU and Turkey two years ago.

Syrians refugees have long comprised the majority of migrants crossing over to Europe from Turkey, which hosts the largest Syrian refugee community in the world, at above 3.5 million. After the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, more displaced people arrived in Turkey, a rare safe haven for refugees in the region. As a result, the number of people seeking to reach Europe via the country also increased.