June 27 () –
The Greek Coast Guard has arrested two Turks on Monday for alleged “illegal trafficking” of 15 migrants, who disembarked on Sunday on the Greek island of Patmos, in the Aegean Sea.
The Greek authorities were informed of the sighting of a boat that was moving at high speed and three boats went “immediately” to the place, at which time a pursuit began, the Greek newspaper ‘Kathimerini’ has published.
Greek coastguards fired several warning shots at the pursued speedboat, which was performing “dangerous manoeuvres”; finally ran aground in a rocky area of the Lipsi islets. The two detainees were on the boat along with 15 irregular migrants.
The number of missing or deceased migrants on the Eastern Mediterranean route is 644 just this 2023, of which 596 belong to the shipwreck that occurred in mid-June off the coast of the city of Pylos, in the Peloponnese region. While the number of rescued is more than a hundred, it is believed that some 700 migrants were on board.
