18 refugees, including children, drown off Turkey

18 asylum seekers, including six children, have drowned off Turkey after their boat capsized while trying to cross to Greece. The Turkish coast guard said that rescue teams managed to save 21 people, including a baby, and were looking for one other survivor. There was no mention of nationalities.

The overcrowded wooden boat was about two miles off the Turkish coast en route to the Greek island of Lesbos when it capsized in high waves, Turkey’s private Dogan news agency reported.

Divers were called to the scene amid reports that people were stuck in the cabin of the sinking boat.

At least 24 people have died in two similar sinkings in the Aegean Sea this week. In a separate incident on Wednesday, coast guards caught two suspected human smugglers and rounded up 45 Syrian would-be migrants heading from Mugla province in southwest Turkey to the Greek island of Symi.

Earlier this week, the Geneva-based International Organisation for Migration said that over a million asylum seekers have entered Europe illegally this year, a fourfold rise from last year’s total.

3,692 of these people drowned on the journey.

In an effort to stem Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II, the European Union has earmarked €3 billion for Turkey to deal with migrants in its territory.