Eighty migrants were recovered on Wednesday (June 14th) from the sea after their boat capsized off the Peloponnese in southwestern Greece, during a rescue operation by the Greek authorities, according to the coast guard.
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Since very early Wednesday morning, a vast rescue operation is underway off Pylos when a fishing boat capsized with a large number of migrants on board," a coast guard statement said. The number of migrants has not yet been specified by the Greek authorities. "So far 80 migrants have been recovered from the sea and will be transferred to Kalamata, a port in the southern Peloponnese," a spokeswoman told AFP.
Italian destination
The shipwreck took place in international waters, 47 nautical miles from Pylos in the Ionian Sea, according to the same source. In addition to the patrol boats of the port police, a frigate of the Greek navy, an air force plane and helicopter and six boats sailing in the area participated in this rescue operation. Winds of about 12 km/hour (3 Beaufort) were blowing in the area. According to initial information from the authorities, the migrants' boat had set sail from Libya to Italy.
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With a long maritime border at the European Union's external borders in the eastern Mediterranean, Greece is a common transit for migrants usually from neighbouring Turkey to northern Europe. Many often deadly shipwrecks take place in the Aegean Sea, which separates Greece and Turkey, while Greece is often accused of "illegally" turning back migrant boats. In addition to this passage, migrants also try to cross directly into Italy by crossing the Mediterranean into the southern Peloponnese or the island of Crete.