ATHENS (AP) – The sinking of a boat with migrants in the Aegean Sea that took the lives of four people shows the flaws in an agreement between the European Union and Turkey to curb the flow of migrants to the West, the minister of immigration from Greece.
Notis Mitarachi said that the victims of the accident off the Greek island of Chios – two children and two adults from Somalia – should not have been allowed to leave the Turkish coast aboard a fragile and overcrowded boat.
Greece is a major point of entry into the EU for migrants from Asia and Africa fleeing conflict or poverty, who mostly leave Turkey in flimsy boats. Tighter patrols by Greek authorities, assisted by the EU border agency, have restricted the flow in recent years after a million people made the crossing in 2015.
Mitarachi told a news conference that up to four people are reported missing after Monday’s sinking, while 22 Somalis, Eritreans and Sudanese were rescued – three of whom are receiving hospital treatment.
He said the sinking “highlights the cruel reality of the exploitation of migrants” who do not face persecution in Turkey, by criminal gangs.
Mitarachi said that Somalis especially “fly to Turkey on visas, they are well received in Turkey … and they have all the characteristics of people who have been provided with a safe place. So we don’t see any reason for them to go to Greece or any other EU country. “
The minister said that people facing danger in their countries should “obviously” have the right to apply for asylum, but that does not give them the right to travel through many countries to decide what is in their best interest. “
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