Page 11 - Aruba Today
P. 11
WORLD NEWS A11
Friday 30 October 2015
Migrant tragedy in Greek seas shows dangers as winter nears
DEREK GATOPOULOS peak of 700,000 recorded at the frontier with Turkey In this Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, a man tries to warm up a child
SRDJAN NEDELJKOVIC in the early 1990s, when to open a land bridge, to after a boat with refugees and migrants sunk while crossing the
Associated Press wars tore Yugoslavia apart. reduce sea crossings and Aegean sea from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos. She was
LESBOS, Greece (AP) — Lesbos has borne the relieve the island’s burden. among 242 people rescued from a boat that sank overnight in
Dead migrants float belly- brunt of the refugee crisis Many of Lesbos’ beaches rough seas off the Greek island’s north coast.
up, stripped of their cloth- in Greece, with more than are strewn with discarded
ing by churning seas. On 300,000 people reaching orange life vests. In the Associated Press
shore, wailing women the island this year on small main town of Mytilene, a
search for loved ones boats from Turkey, police small tent city has sprung “Leaders have pledged people had to die before
among the shivering, wide- say. More than a third of up next to the port, where to increase the Frontex we heard that pledge, and
eyed survivors. A rescuer that number has come in children play with stray presence in the Aegean. there’s no more time for
tries to revive a toddler October alone. dogs and parents hang It’s shocking that so many delays.”q
who lies unconscious in her After the latest tragedy, washing on fences.
sodden striped sweater. paramedics and volun- Judith Sunderland of Hu-
The scenes bring home a teers scrambled on the man Rights Watch said
sobering reality: While the seafront to resuscitate there is an urgent need
flow of migrants into Eu- infants, tearing off their to boost Greece’s search-
rope tends to abate as win- soaked clothes, as survi- and-rescue capacity with
ter nears and the journey vors were carried or stag- more vessels from Frontex,
becomes more dangerous, gered onto land and were the EU’s border protection
this year it has only risen as wrapped in emergency foil agency.
thousands of people brave blankets. Eighteen children “The Greek Coast Guard is
death in raging seas and were hospitalized, three of severely under-resourced.
freezing temperatures. them in serious condition, The EU has to get the res-
On the beaches of Les- local officials said. cue boats in the water
bos, children who looked Local fisherman Manolis right now,” Sutherland said.
as young as 4 appeared Galanakis said the boat
to be in shock as rescuers sank in gale-force winds,
wrapped them with blan- and smugglers on the
kets to protect against the nearby Turkish coast would
cold. They were among have been aware of the
242 people rescued from risk.
a boat that sank overnight “Crossing in those condi-
in rough seas off the Greek tions would be very tough,”
island’s north coast. Eight he said. “They are criminals.
people drowned and 33 They took their money, put
remained missing. Authori- them on boats, and sent
ties found the body of one them to their death.”
more drowned migrant be- Greek officials called on
lieved to be from that ship- the European Union to
wreck late Thursday. speed up financial aid to
In all, five separate inci- Turkey to prevent more fa-
dents in the eastern Aege- tal accidents.
an Sea on Wednesday left “We can’t have a situation
at least 12 people dead, continuing with dead chil-
most of them children. dren in the sea every day,”
Europe’s largest refugee Giorgos Pallis, a member
crisis since World War II is of Parliament representing
entering a perilous and Lesbos, told state-run radio.
uncharted phase, as the “Thousands are coming ev-
usual pattern of migrant ery day, escaping war. We
season ending by autumn have handled the situation
is overturned by intensify- with dignity, but the truth is
ing fighting in Syria and that we can’t even meet
overcrowding in refugee their basic needs.”
centers in Turkey and Leba- As Lesbos runs out of burial
non. Asylum applications in space for dead migrants,
the European Union are ex- the outspoken mayor has
pected to exceed 1 million called on the government
this year, higher that the to dismantle a border fence
