Turkish forces rescue 75 irregular migrants off İzmir

İZMİR

Turkish security teams have rescued 75 irregular immigrants, including 12 children, who were pushed back by Greek forces off the country's western coast, media reports said on May 26.

The Turkish Coast Guard units were alerted to a group of irregular migrants in a rubber boat off the Çeşme district early on May 24. Thirteen individuals were rescued by the dispatched boat. The group had been forced back into Turkish territorial waters by Greek forces, as reported by local media.

Later the same day, teams received information about another group of irregular migrants on Karaada, an island off the district. Upon arrival, they rescued 33 people, including three children, who had been pushed back in life rafts by Greek elements and managed to reach the island on their own, reports said.

In the afternoon, the Coast Guard was informed of more irregular migrants off the coast of Dikili district. They rescued 29 people, nine of whom were children, from two life rafts that had also been pushed back by Greek forces, dailies wrote.

Following their rescue, all 75 migrants, including 12 children, were brought ashore. After undergoing health checks and necessary procedures, they were transferred to a repatriation center for further processing.

Greece, along with Spain and Italy, is a key entry point for people from the Middle East or Africa who are seeking a better life in the European Union. To get to Greek shores, most make the risky crossing in flimsy boats from neighboring Türkiye or Libya.

Greece's coast guard said 34 men and three boys were rescued on May 23 by a passing merchant vessel some 83 nautical miles (95 miles) south of Crete after issuing a distress signal.

A coast guard statement said one more man who had been on the boat fell into the sea and drowned, according to other survivors and the ship's captain. All survivors were taken to Crete. They told authorities they had set off from eastern Libya on May 21.

Authorities also found 51 men, eight women and 19 children on a beach near Monemvassia in southeastern mainland Greece. It was unclear where they had departed from, but the area is on a smuggling route from Türkiye to Greece or Italy.

In separate incidents, authorities picked up 22 people from an islet off the southeastern island of Symi. The coast guard said they had paid smugglers to ferry them over from Türkiye.

Nearly 16,000 people have reached Greece so far this year, mostly by sea. In 2023, arrivals exceeded 48,000.