Turkish coast guards reportedly intercepted and rescued 94 migrants from three boats in the Aegean Sea, recovering one dead body and arresting two smuggling suspects. The NGO Aegean Boat Report accused the Greek coast guard of pushing back one of the groups and damaging their boat.
Three groups of migrants were rescued in the waters between Turkey and the Greek Aegean Islands on Wednesday and early Thursday morning (May 6-7), according to statements released by the Turkish coast guards.
Officers reportedly rescued 43 people from a half-sunken inflatable boat and the nearby waters after receiving an emergency call on Wednesday night shortly before 11 pm. They also recovered one dead body and arrested one smuggling suspect, according to a statement they released.
This incident happened near the district of Foça, in Turkey’s İzmir region, located around 30 kilometers from the Greek island of Lesbos. The rescue reportedly involved multiple vessels and a helicopter.
Read AlsoGreece: Hundreds of migrants arrive in Crete
Pushback accusations against Greek coast guard
The non-governmental organization Aegean Boat Report said on Thursday that the boat had been "violently pushed back" by Greek coast guards. They said they had received an emergency call from the group and that they were told that "the coast guard destroyed the engine, damaged the rubber boat during the attack, and left them helplessly drifting at sea while the boat started taking in water."
There have been multiple instances in which Greek border and coast guards have been accused of carrying out pushbacks and damaging migrants’ vessels over the past few years. Most recently, the BBC and Frontex published reports that border guards at the Evros rivers were carrying out violent pushbacks. Greek officials have denied these allegations.
Read AlsoGreece: Three more deaths in Aegean Sea and at least four migrants believed to be missing
More migrants rescued near Samos and north of Lesbos
In the early morning hours of Wednesday, the Turkish coast guard reportedly intercepted two other boats and returned them to shore.
Twenty people were rescued from an inflatable boat with a broken engine near Kuşadası, in the Turkish Aydın region, located some 20 kilometers from the Greek island of Samos.
Turkish coast guards reportedly also intercepted 31 migrants (12 of them children) from another inflatable boat in waters off the Turkish district of Ezine. One person was reportedly arrested as a smuggling suspect in connection with the incident. At its southernmost point, Ezine is located some 30 kilometers north of the Greek island of Lesbos.
Dangerous sea crossing have claimed thousands of lives
More than 3,000 migrants have died trying to cross the sea to EU countries Greece and Cyprus from Turkey, North Africa and the Middle East since 2014, according to the UN migration agency IOM.
In February, 15 people died when their boat collided with a Greek coast guard vessel.
More than 5,600 migrants have landed on Greek shores so far this year, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR. More than half of them landed on the islands of Crete, most after setting off from eastern Libya. More than 2,400 people landed on the Greek islands near the Turkish coast, including Lesbos (more than 800), Samos (over 500) and Chios (more than 450).
Read Also'Detention or return': Greece moves to imprison those who don't voluntarily leave