At least one refugee was killed and seven others are missing as their boat capsized near Kuşadası coast of Aydın province.
Coast guards could save 11 passengers of the boat, which was carrying 19 refugees.
Aydın Governor Erol Ayyıldız said in a statement that the adverse weather conditions could cause the incident and that coast guards as well as a helicopter and four rescue boats are looking for the missing passengers.
Ayyıldız said they still couldn’t identify the nationality of the immigrants.
Eyewitnesses accuse the Greek Coast Guard of drowning migrants off the coast of the island of Farmakonisi on January 20th, 2013. 9 children and 3 women died!
survivors arriving in piraeus on 23.1.14
“I am shocked and distressed by the new tragedy which occurred near Farmakonisi in which a number of migrants, including possible asylum seekers, have drowned or have gone missing in what appears to be a case of a failed collective expulsion,” Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press.
“The Greek government has pledged last week to put an end to the illegal practice of collective expulsions and effectively investigate all such cases. I urge them to implement their promise.”
As UNHCR reports: “According to survivors’ testimonies, the Coast Guard boat towing their vessel was heading, at high speed, towards the Turkish coast, when the tragic incident happened amid rough seas. The same witnesses said people were screaming for help, since there was a large number of children on the boat”.
International organisations have condemned, several times, the refoulement policy against migrants entering Greece without papers. Video showing how the survivors arrive on LEros with coast guard escort while being in a devastated state
