InfoMigrants

A 12-year-old migrant boy died off the Greek island of Samos on Monday (December 8) after the migrants were allegedly ordered to jump from a speedboat by its pilot.

A vessel carrying 37 migrants approached the northern coast of the Greek island of Samos on Monday (December 8) in the early hours of the morning. A 12-year-old boy on board the boat reportedly died after being struck by the boat’s propeller after the pilot of the boat attempted to flee.

According to reports in Greek newspapers, like Ekathimerini and Greek Reporter, rescue authorities found the body of the child and were "visibly shaken" as they tried to "secure the scene and assist the survivors who had already reached the shore."

According to the Greek Reporter, the Greek authorities believe the pilot of the boat to be a Turkish smuggler. They say he "forced" the boy and the other migrants to "jump from the speedboat" into the water while attempting to flee.

No details about the boy’s nationality or identity have been released.

Suspected smuggler in hiding

Ekathimerini reported that although the smuggler attempted to flee, he was unable to get far and is believed to have returned to shore, where he is "in hiding." Greek coast guards and authorities are currently conducting searches to "locate and apprehend him," reported Ekathimerini on December 8.

File photo used as illustration: Migrants in a boat off the eastern Aegean Sea island of Samos, Greece, on Monday, September 23, 2024 | Photo: Michael Svarnias / picture alliance

Further investigations into the incident are also ongoing. The group of 37 is not the first group to have arrived on Samos on Monday. Another group of undocumented migrants reportedly landed in the nearby Livadakia area, not far from Agios Konstantios, reported Ekathimerini.

Investigators are gathering testimony from some of the migrants who survived the incident, reported the Greek Reporter.

High-speed chases and offloading migrants offshore

The Hellenic coast guard provides daily updates of rescues, pursuits and discoveries of migrants and smugglers that they undertake across the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. They often detail similar behavior to that carried out by the smuggler in this latest incident.

According to the coast guard accounts, migrants are often forced off boats off the shore, either because the boats can’t come so close to the beach for fear of grounding, or because they want to get away from a patrol that might already be on their trail.

High-speed chases are also frequent, often resulting in damage to the smuggler’s boats and sometimes even the coast guard’s boats or other vessels in the vicinity.

File photo: The Greek authorities often end up chasing suspected smugglers at high speed across the Aegean | Source: Hellenic Coast Guard Press Office

18 fatalities off Crete

The fatality comes just days after 18 migrants reportedly drowned off the southern island of Crete. The boat on which they had been traveling was found drifting in a half-submerged state over the weekend, with 18 migrants already dead and two survivors in a critical condition.

A half-sunken boat was spotted south of Crete, leaving at least 18 migrants dead. Two survivors were rescued. Authorities still don’t know where the vessel departed from. #greece #migrants pic.twitter.com/742MObks3z
— InfoMigrants (@InfoMigrants) December 8, 2025

Authorities say they believe the victims succumbed to hypothermia after remaining trapped on the overcrowded dinghy, according to the Greek Reporter.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 42,703 migrants have arrived in Greece by land and sea, according to UNHCR data. The figures were last updated on November 30. More than 4,515 migrants arrived on the Greek island of Samos and more than 16,777 arrived on Crete and its satellite islands, like Gavdos.

Arrivals and those missing

The majority of migrants arriving in Greece this year are Afghan nationals, accounting for just over a quarter of all arrivals (25.7 percent), followed by Egyptian nationals (21.2 percent), and Sudanese (20.5 percent).

As of mid-2025, Greece had 126,401 registered refugees, 30,171 asylum seekers and 3,743 stateless people. Monthly arrivals to Greece were higher in March, June and July than in the previous year, but lower in all other months to August, according to UNHCR.

Overall, the total number of people arriving since the beginning of 2025 appears likely to fall below the total arrivals recorded in 2024.

The IOM Missing Migrants Project recorded the deaths of 285 migrants in the Eastern Mediterranean since the beginning of the year up to December 7; 186 of those deaths were from drowning, 98 were classified as "mixed or unknown" and one was attributed to an "accidental death." A total of 14 children are recorded as having died in this region since the beginning of the year.

The actual number of fatalities could be much higher, acknowledges the IOM, as many departures and arrivals can go unregistered and therefore it is difficult to keep an accurate tally of fatalities.