Four migrants, including two children and two women, died on Thursday after their boat sank off the northeastern coast of Samos in the Aegean Sea, in a new migrant shipwreck on the Greek island -the second this week.
The shipwreck took place in the early morning hours, near Cape Praso, under good weather conditions in the area. Sixteen people have been rescued while it remains unknown how many were on the boat. Search and rescue teams have been looking for more survivors. It is believed the boat sank after hitting a rocky area on the island’s coast.
The migrant boat incident takes place only days after another eight people, six children and two women, died in the same coastal area off Samos. The coastguard said 40 people had been rescued and it is believed about 50 people were on board the vessel.
After the shipwreck, Christos Stylianides, Maritime and Insular Policy Minister, expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy and blamed human traffickers.
“This tragic incident once again highlights the criminal actions of trafficking networks and their accomplices, who prioritize profit over the lives of innocent people, including children,” Stylianides said.
He emphasized that addressing migration flows and tackling trafficking networks requires systematic and joint cooperation at the maritime borders between Greece and Turkey, a collaboration already yielding tangible results.
Greece, on the southeast corner of Europe, has long been favored by migrants as an entry point to Europe. Samos just off the Turkish coast has been a regular destination for migrants trying to reach European soil. In 2024, according to UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, Samos is the second preferred migrant destination in the Aegean Sea, with the island of Lesvos, also off the Turkish coast, on top of the list.
The most common nationalities of migrants reaching Greece via boat are Syrians (38,9 percent), Afghans (21,6 percent) and Egyptians (12,4 percent).
Close to 50,000 migrants have arrived by boat in Greece so far this year, making it the second most used European migrant route -behind only Italy.
According to UNHCR data, migrant arrivals have been steadily declining since August 2023 but have increased again this summer.
About 160,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea this year, agency figures show, while 2,000 people were dead or missing. Around 23 percent of arrivals were children.
In 2016, when Europe faced an unprecedented migrant crisis, Greece and Turkey signed an agreement, under which migrants arriving in Greece and do not apply for asylum or their claim is rejected, are expected to be sent back to Turkey, which has been designated as a “safe third country.” Under the deal, Turkey was to receive six billion euros from the European Union in order to improve the humanitarian situation of refugees in the country.
