Tragedy in the Aegean Sea highlights ongoing migrant crisis

Bodrum, Turkey: Seventeen people, including sixteen migrants and a suspected trafficker, lost their lives early Friday when an inflatable dinghy capsized off the coast of Bodrum, the Turkish coastguard confirmed. Two survivors were rescued from the water, one of whom, an Afghan national, said the boat began sinking just 10 minutes after taking on water. He reportedly swam for six hours to reach Celebi Island before alerting authorities.

The overcrowded vessel was attempting to cross the Aegean Sea toward nearby Greek islands such as Kos, Samos, and Rhodes—key entry points to the European Union. The perilous route has claimed hundreds of lives this year, as desperate migrants continue to risk the dangerous journey in search of safety and opportunity.

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), nearly 1,400 migrants have died so far this year while attempting to reach Europe via the Mediterranean. Turkey, which signed an agreement with the EU in 2016 to curb illegal migration, currently hosts more than 2.5 million refugees, most of them Syrians. Authorities have yet to release the nationalities of the victims from Friday’s tragedy.