Stranded migrants rescued from rocks off Turkey in dramatic operation
TURKEY - The Turkish coastguard has mounted a dramatic rescue operation in the Aegean Sea, saving 51 people who became stranded on rocks as they attempted to cross to Greece.
Authorities intervened after receiving an emergency call at 1.12 am local time. The coastguard said the rescue operation could only begin in daylight due to the rocky area and bad sea conditions. Helicopters dropped food and blankets in the night. Footage from the rescue operation near the coastal city of İzmir showed coastguard personnel airlifting a child as others waited on the rocks next to a partially deflated rubber dinghy. Five children and a woman were rescued in this way while the rest were transferred to coastguard boats with the assistance of fishermen in the area, the coastguard said. There was no information on the migrants’ nationalities, but Turkey is home to 3 million refugees from Syria, and many have continued to attempt the risky boat ride across the sea to Greece despite a deal between Ankara and the European Union that has curtailed illegal crossings.
While some still attempt the sea route, others try to cross into Greece through the land border, and are sometimes forcibly returned even after entering the Greek mainland. In addition to refugees fleeing the Syrian war, economic migrants from Asia and north Africa also attempt the crossing. More than 800,000 people reached Greece from Turkey at the height of the crisis in 2015, most of them settling in Germany and Sweden.
(Theguardian.com)