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| NATO: Aegean migrant flow ‘significantly down’ as worries shift to other routes | NATO: Aegean migrant flow ‘significantly down’ as worries shift to other routes |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| ATHENS — The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s top official said Thursday that the number of migrants crossing the Aegean Sea into Europe is “significantly down,” giving further backing to efforts at curbing their flow even as worries grew over a renewed push to cross the Mediterranean. | |
| The comments by the alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, came a day after the U.N. refugee agency said reports from migrants suggest that as many as 500 people may have drowned last week in the sea between Libya and Italy. | |
| If confirmed, it would mark one of the worst tragedies involving refugees and migrants in the past year. | |
| [Despite outcry, migrants sent back over same waters they crossed] | [Despite outcry, migrants sent back over same waters they crossed] |
| Stoltenberg, speaking at a joint news conference in Ankara with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, said international coordination helped push down the numbers. | |
| But he urged authorities not to abandon efforts prematurely as human smugglers can easily change routes and tactics, including trying to bypass NATO patrols and other measures in the routes between Turkey and Greece — where more than 1 million migrants, refugees and others have crossed since last year. | |
| Many are fleeing the wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, using Turkey as a launchpad to Greece, from where they try to travel deeper into Europe. But the crossing from North Africa to Italy is much longer and has historically been more perilous. | |
| Stoltenberg said numbers were “significantly down,” which he added “confirms our collective efforts are making a difference.” | Stoltenberg said numbers were “significantly down,” which he added “confirms our collective efforts are making a difference.” |
| Under a recent deal between the European Union and Turkey, migrants arriving on Greek islands from the Turkish coast since March 20 face deportation to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. | |
| The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says Greece has had fewer than 70 migrant arrivals a day over the past 10 days, down from staggering totals of nearly 1,500 a day before the deal was struck. | |
| [Pope Francis tours front lines of migrant crisis] | [Pope Francis tours front lines of migrant crisis] |
| Warships from the NATO military alliance began patrolling the Aegean Sea in February to help stop the overwhelming surge of migrants. | Warships from the NATO military alliance began patrolling the Aegean Sea in February to help stop the overwhelming surge of migrants. |
| On Tuesday, a team from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spoke with some of the 41 survivors of last week’s alleged accident, who had arrived at Kalamata, a town on Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula, the agency said in a statement. They claim that a ship went down during attempts to transfer more migrants aboard. | |
| “If confirmed, as many as 500 people may have lost their lives when a large ship went down in the Mediterranean Sea at an unknown location between Libya and Italy,” the agency said. | “If confirmed, as many as 500 people may have lost their lives when a large ship went down in the Mediterranean Sea at an unknown location between Libya and Italy,” the agency said. |
| One of the survivors, an Ethiopian man named Mohamed who was traveling with his family, told the IOM: “I saw my wife and my 2-month-old child die at sea, together with my brother-in-law. . . . The boat was going down. . . . All the people died in a matter of minutes.” | |
| The survivors “drifted at sea for a few days without food, without anything,” Mohamed said, adding that he thought “I was going to die.” He said the travelers intended to go to Italy, not Greece. | |
| “The testimonies we gathered are heartbreaking,” IOM Athens Chief of Mission Daniel Esdras said in a statement. “We await further investigations by authorities to better understand what actually happened and find hopefully evidence against criminal smugglers.” | “The testimonies we gathered are heartbreaking,” IOM Athens Chief of Mission Daniel Esdras said in a statement. “We await further investigations by authorities to better understand what actually happened and find hopefully evidence against criminal smugglers.” |
| [Europe begins sending back migrants] | [Europe begins sending back migrants] |
| With summer approaching and the seas becoming calmer, the accounts of the tragedy may be a harbinger of a deeper emerging crisis. | With summer approaching and the seas becoming calmer, the accounts of the tragedy may be a harbinger of a deeper emerging crisis. |
| So far this year, about 25,000 migrants and refugees have reached the shores of Italy from North Africa, according to Italian authorities. Although those numbers are slightly more than the 24,000 who arrived during the same period last year, the United Nations and other refugee organizations are expecting more people to take rickety boats plying the risky routes across the Mediterranean to Italy. | So far this year, about 25,000 migrants and refugees have reached the shores of Italy from North Africa, according to Italian authorities. Although those numbers are slightly more than the 24,000 who arrived during the same period last year, the United Nations and other refugee organizations are expecting more people to take rickety boats plying the risky routes across the Mediterranean to Italy. |
| According to the IOM, the reports of the latest tragedy, if proved accurate, would raise the number of migrants who have perished on the Mediterranean Sea’s central route between North Africa and Europe to nearly 800 this year. | |
| In addition, about 380 migrants reportedly have died in 2016 on the eastern Mediterranean route, between Turkey and Greece, and about five migrants on the western route linking Morocco and Spain, the IOM reported. | |
| Last year, through the entire month of April, the IOM reported that more than 1,730 migrants died or disappeared. | Last year, through the entire month of April, the IOM reported that more than 1,730 migrants died or disappeared. |
| A contentious agreement between the European Union and Turkey has dramatically reduced the number of refugees reaching the Greek islands. Balkan nations are closing their borders as well, preventing travel from Greece to Germany and beyond. That has triggered fears that more refugees and migrants could attempt to enter Europe from Egypt or Libya. | |
| [How Europe is punishing migrants] | [How Europe is punishing migrants] |
| Almost exactly a year ago, as many as 700 migrants and refugees were thought to have died when their boat capsized north of Libya. It was the deadliest known sea disaster involving people crossing the Mediterranean in efforts to escape conflict or poverty. | |
| On Wednesday, the UNHCR again stressed its call for more “regular pathways” to Europe for refugees and asylum seekers, including “resettlement and humanitarian admission programs, family reunification, private sponsorship and student and work visas for refugees.” | On Wednesday, the UNHCR again stressed its call for more “regular pathways” to Europe for refugees and asylum seekers, including “resettlement and humanitarian admission programs, family reunification, private sponsorship and student and work visas for refugees.” |
| “These will all serve to reduce the demand for people smuggling and dangerous irregular sea journeys,” the agency said. | “These will all serve to reduce the demand for people smuggling and dangerous irregular sea journeys,” the agency said. |
| Raghavan reported from Athens and Deane from London. | |
| Read more | Read more |
| How Europe’s migrant policy is tearing families apart | How Europe’s migrant policy is tearing families apart |
| As the route to Europe closes, migrants journey through grief | As the route to Europe closes, migrants journey through grief |
| Europe’s harsh new message for migrants: ‘Do not come’ | Europe’s harsh new message for migrants: ‘Do not come’ |
| Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world | Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world |