February 16, 2016•Update: February 16, 2016
MUGLA
Turkish security forces have rescued 55 migrants and refugees caught in a storm in the Aegean Sea off Turkey’s western Mugla province.
The police said they rescued the group as they were trying to reach the Greek island of Kos from Mugla’s Bodrum district on Monday night.
Witnesses said that the storm blew the group's 9-meter plastic dinghy ashore in Bodrum shortly after the attempted crossing.
The 55 people, including children, come from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria. Many were helped initially by local residents.
Anadolu Agency footage showed local coffee houses and nearby businesses hosting those needing first aid. Afterward, the injured were taken to hospital by the emergency services.
Syrian nationals were sent to facilities owned by the Directorate General of Migration Management. However, Pakistani and Afghan nationals were sent to the police to be deported.
Turkey’s Aegean provinces -- Canakkale, Balikesir, Izmir, Mugla and Aydin -- are prime spots for refugees leaving for the EU, with many Greek islands lying within sight of the Turkish coast.
Over the past year, hundreds of thousands have made short-but-perilous journeys in a bid to reach northern and western Europe in search for a better life.
Of the more than 1.1 million refugees who arrived in the EU last year, more than 850,000 arrived by sea to Greece from Turkey, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Over the course of the year, 805 people died in the Aegean. In the first month of 2016, more than 52,000 people arrived by sea in Greece, according to the IOM; more than 200 have died off the Turkish coast.
