Dozens Missing As Refugee Boat Sinks Off Greek Islands

Greek authorities have launched a search and rescue operation for dozens of refugees who are missing after a boat they were travelling on from Turkey overturned and sank in Greek Islands.

The coastguard said on Tuesday that the vessel capsized between the islands of Evia and Andros.

It added that nine people, all men, had been found on an uninhabited rocky islet in the Kafirea Straits between the two islands, which lie east of the Greek capital, Athens.

The survivors, who were picked up by a coastguard patrol boat, told authorities there had been a total of about 68 people on board the sailing boat when it sank, and that they had initially set sail from Izmir on the Turkish coast.

The coastguard said a helicopter, a coastguard patrol boat and two nearby ships were participating in the search and rescue operation.

The Greek coastguard has said it rescued about 1,500 people in the first eight months of this year, compared with fewer than 600 in 2021.

But deaths continue to mount as thousands of people fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa, Asia and the Middle East and in search of safety and better lives continue to attempt to enter the EU via Greece and other member states.