Four Turkish nationals have been arrested on migrant smuggling charges after a vessel with nearly 100 people on board was found in distress off an island near Athens, Greek authorities said on Friday.
The coastguard said the four were among 97 people aboard the boat found Thursday northeast of the island of Kea, which is off the southeast coast of the Greek capital. The remaining passengers were 32 men, 22 women and 39 minors, the coast guard said.
The passengers, who were transported to the Greek mainland by a coast guard vessel, came from Egypt, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Israel and Iraq, the coast guard said. The boat had sailed from Izmir in Turkey and was bound for Italy, with the migrants paying smugglers in Turkey €8,000 each for the journey.
BORDER CRISIS: NUMBER OF TURKISH MIGRANTS AT SOUTHERN BORDER HAS ALREADY EXCEEDED FY 2021 YEAR
Greek authorities have arrested four Turkish citizens on suspicion of migrant smuggling. The Turkish citizens’ boat was found northeast of Kea Island, seen here.
(Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Every year, tens of thousands of people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa try to reach the European Union via perilous sea voyages. The vast majority make their way to the eastern Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast on small dinghies or attempt to cross directly to Italy from North Africa and Turkey on larger vessels.
