Authorities launched a search and rescue operation at night northwest of Paros. Air and sea assets were deployed to the area, the Greek Coast Guard said.
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The route through Greece is one of the main routes for migrants and refugees from Africa, the Middle East and other countries to the European Union. Since 2015, when more than a million people have passed through this country to other European Union countries, their number has decreased.
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A semi-official Athens news agency said the bodies of 12 men, three women and one infant were found in the area. The ship, which according to the Coast Guard was probably heading from Turkey to Italy, had 80 people. The Greek Coast Guard has so far confirmed 16 victims.
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The circumstances under which the vessel overturned are still unclear. Greek Maritime Minister Giannis Plakiotakis said gangs of traffickers were responsible for the disaster.
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Gangs “are indifferent to human lives and load dozens of people without life jackets onto vessels that do not meet even the most basic safety standards,” Plakiotakis said in a written statement.
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Migrants usually reach the EU via the Mediterranean Sea by the shortest possible route. But now a new route is opening to Calabria, Italy, which only a select few can afford.
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According to the AP agency, families pay up to 8,500 euros (216,000 CZK) for each adult and 4,000 euros (100,000 CZK) for each child to travel from Turkey to Calabria.
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The “Calabrian route” increased almost fourfold in 2021. Up to 16 percent of all migrants who arrived by sea this year reached Italy.
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However, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the increase in migrant numbers in Calabria is copying a similarly significant increase in the number of migrants arriving in Sicilian ports.
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Al Jazeera’s website talks about up to 30 migrants who died at sea in the last week. Greek authorities announced another disaster on Friday. A sailboat with migrants sank off an almost uninhabited island of Antikythéra in southern Greece on Thursday. 11 of them died, 90 were rescued by a Greek agency.
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On the night of Wednesday, a boat sank off the island of Folegandros, which probably had up to 50 migrants on board. Dozens of people are still missing. The Coast Guard said that, according to initial information, the migrants were also headed to Italy.
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