Migrant crisis: 13 people drown as boat capsizes off Greece

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35167822

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At least 13 people, most of them children, drowned when their boat capsized in the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, officials say.

Another 15 people were rescued off the Greek island of Farmakonisi but one person remains missing.

It comes a day after new figures showed the number of migrants and refugees crossing illegally into Europe by sea and land had passed one million.

Meanwhile, German police say they have arrested a suspected people trafficker.

The 37-year-old Syrian man was wanted in connection with the drowning of five Syrians in bad weather during their passage on an overcrowded boat from Turkey to Greece in April.

They are alleged to have paid some $2,400 (£1,600) each to the suspect.

The man was detained in Strausberg, near Berlin, on Tuesday after a tip-off by a relative of one of those who died, said a spokesman for federal police.

Police are reported to have seized computers and disks, phones and documents during the raid, and the man is now in custody while the investigation proceeds.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the number of migrants and refugees crossing illegally into Europe by sea and land in 2015 represented a fourfold rise on last year's total.

Nearly 3,700 of those who made the journey did not survive it - including many children.

Seven children were among the 13 reported drowned on Wednesday, and three children were among 11 who died on Tuesday.

"The weather was not particularly bad but the boat was overloaded as is often the case," a police official said of Wednesday's incident, according to AFP news agency.

A helicopter, patrol boat and private vessels are still looking for the missing person.

A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.