Accident evokes tragedy for migrants More than 150 deaths have been reported in Aegean Sea this year

ANKARA — A fatal road accident that has killed 22 migrants in western Turkey, including children, highlights human tragedy despite an EU-Turkish deal with the aim of deterring illegal immigration.

The truck carrying migrants on a highway near Izmir airport swerved off the road on Oct 14 and plunged into a river channel. The migrants, who had inflatable dinghies with them, were reportedly heading to the coast in an attempt to reach Greece’s Samos island.

Turkish authorities detained five people linked to the deadly accident, including three suspected Syrian smugglers who took thousands of dollars from migrants to arrange logistics.

Two weeks ago, eight migrants were found drowned in another district of Izmir when their boat, also bound for the Greek island, capsized. The 26 others who are still missing are believed to have died.

On the opposite shores of the Aegean Sea, 11 migrants were killed in an accident last week.

According to the International Organization for Migration, 28 percent of illegal crossings to Europe occurred in the Aegean Sea and 152 migrants have lost their lives since the start of 2018.

Turkey officially hosts more than 4 million migrants, including 3.5 million Syrians and 500,000 Iraqis. Only a fraction of them are living in specially built camps, while a majority are scattered around Turkish cities.

In 2015, about a million migrants crossed from Turkey into Greece, mostly using the Aegean Sea, which separates the two countries, a crisis that forced a deal between Ankara and the European Union in early 2016 to stem such flow.

Authorities, whoever, have noted an increase in the number of crossings from the Turkish land border in recent months.

Greek officials this week reported 200 migrants crossing the Evros river, an unusually large number in a single morning.

“It’s not that we are unhappy here, but Europe is still the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Hafez, 28, an unregistered Syrian refugee living for nearly three years in Istanbul.

Hafez, who declined to give his surname, said his two cousins got into trouble while attempting the Aegean crossing.

“Luckily, they were saved by the (Turkish Coast Guard) when their boat nearly capsized and were brought back to Turkey, but it could have gotten really, really serious because we heard stories,” he said.

Migrants were desperately seeking to cross the TurkishGreece land border, Hafez added.

Greece is currently facing a surge in the arrival of undocumented migrants in the Evros region, an entry point for migrants trying to illegally enter the country from Turkey.

Doubled arrivals

The migrant arrivals have roughly doubled since 2017, according to the Greek government, which blames Turkey for not doing enough to ensure approval of EU payments.

The EU-Turkey deal foresees $6.9 billion in payments to Ankara to be used in projects for migrants. Ankara, however, accuses Brussels of being slow to approve these projects.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, who rejected the Greek accusations, told reporters this week that a total of 205,000 illegal immigrants were held in Turkey — mostly Afghan, Pakistani, Syrian and Iraqi nationals, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

He insisted on a “successful migration policy” by Turkey, saying the detention of migrants crossing to Greece has risen significantly over the last five years.

Nevertheless, many migrants remain undeterred and are visible nearly every day on Turkish coasts near Greece, with the Turkish Coast Guard in hot pursuit, especially along the wide western coastline.