By Meletus EZE
Four-year-old twin boys and their father drowned in the Aegean Sea when the boat transporting them from Turkey capsized off the island of Samos, state broadcaster ERT reported on Thursday.
The Greek coastguard said it rescued the remaining nine migrants from the vessel, adding that all of them were being treated in a hospital on the island and were in good condition.
Though the flow of migrants and refugees across the Aegean Sea has declined drastically since the peak of the refugee crisis, many people still attempt to reach Europe that way.
According to the UN agency for refugees (UNHCR), about 3,600 arrived on Greek islands after the dangerous voyage from the Turkish coast in 2018, and 174 are either dead or missing as a result.
In spite of fewer arrivals, reception and processing camps on the Greek islands, set up three years ago in agreement between the European Union and Turkey, remain overcrowded.
The people remain stranded in the camps for months until their applications for asylum are processed.
According to official figures from Greece, the situation is the worst on Samos, there are almost 4,000 people crowded in the camp Vathy, which was built for 648 inhabitants.—-DPA
