Four dead in Greece after smuggler forces passengers off boat | Refugee Affairs

Twenty-five other people were found alive on the island of Rhodes after swimming to shore, according to Greek lifeguards.

Authorities in Greece have found the bodies of four people in the sea off the east coast of the Aegean island of Rhodes and another 25 people have been found alive on land, the Greek security guard said.

The bodies of three men and one woman were found off the southern coast of Rhodes on Wednesday, according to the coast guard.

A group of 25 survivors were found alive after swimming to shore. The police first found the first group of 11 people shortly after two and the others were found after that. The nationality of the people remains unclear.

The survivors told authorities they were traveling to the Greek island from the nearby Turkish coast in a speedboat when a smuggler piloting the vessel forced them into the water and left.

The search and rescue operation in the area was called off on Wednesday afternoon when the authorities found out that there were no more missing people.

Wednesday's incident comes weeks after two people died near the Greek island of Samos in October. Four other people, including two infants, went missing near the Greek island of Kos a few days earlier.

Greece has been a popular gateway to the European Union for migrants and asylum seekers from the Middle East, Africa and Asia since 2015 when nearly one million people arrived on its islands.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that 48,158 people have arrived so far in 2024, of which about 42,000 arrived by boat and 6,000 by crossing the country's border with Turkey.

Rhodes is among the Greek islands that have seen an increase in asylum seekers in recent months.

Greece's migration minister, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, has said the government wants tougher EU migration policies and is considering building detention centers on the islands of Rhodes and Crete after sea arrivals doubled last year.

But rights groups and NGOs have repeatedly said such facilities violate the rights of asylum seekers and could become prison camps at the EU's borders.