ATHENS: Greek authorities on Wednesday blamed human traffickers for a collision between a coastguard vessel and a migrant boat which official said left at least 15 people dead, including four women.
The collision happened on Tuesday off Chios, near the Turkish coast, which like other Greek islands has become an entry point for asylum seekers trying to reach Europe. Migration Minister Thanos Plevris described the deaths as a “tragic incident” during a debate in parliament about toughening criminal penalties against people-smugglers.
“The criminals are the traffickers... who tried to drop off the migrants at Chios,” he added. Large numbers of migrants seek to cross the Mediterranean each year to get to Europe. Last year, more than 1,700 people died or went missing on migration routes to Europe in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean off west Africa, according to the UN refugee agency.
Since 2014, about 33,000 migrants have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean, the International Organization for Migration said. The Greek coastguard said in a statement that the “high speed” migrant vessel, which had no navigation lights, failed to comply with visual and audible signals. “Instead, the pilot turned around, and the boat then collided with the starboard side of the Coastguard patrol boat,” it added.
