Thirty-three Syrian refugees caught off Turkish coastline

ISTANBUL

A picture showed a young girl cuddling with her father as refugees waited for the completion of the administrative proceedings for their deportation. DHA Photo

The Turkish coastguard has stopped a boat of human traffickers off the southwestern Datça peninsula carrying Syrian refugees to the Greek island of Symi in the early hours of July 11.

Two human traffickers, who jumped off of the boat during the raid, were both caught and detained after they reached land by swimming.

Thirty-three refugees, including six women and four children, were taken to the police center for deportation.

Police said the refugees paid a total of 2,000 Turkish Liras for the journey.

The number of refugees putting their lives at risk to reach Greece has dramatically increased over the last year with the devastating civil war in Syria having no end in sight.

Figures from Turkish coastguard officials show that the number of refugees caught on the Aegean Sea was almost 7,000 last year, dramatically up from 2,531 in 2012.

The refugees, brought to Datça, were mostly exhausted and starved, officials said. A picture showed a young girl cuddling with her father as refugees waited for the completion of the administrative proceedings for their deportation. Doğan News Agency’s report said the little girl and her three brothers had lost her mother during the bombings on Aleppo and were accompanying their father on the boat.

A report released by Amnesty International on July 10 denounced the lack of cooperation from the European Union countries that forced refugees to choose perilous ways to access Europe.