Ya Libnan

Smuggling boat sinks off of Turkey killing 24 refugees

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A ship carries out a search and rescue operation after a boat sank in the Bosphorus strait, near Istanbul November 3, 2014. Fisherman and coastguards pulled bodies from the sea at the mouth of Istanbul's Bosphorus strait on Monday after the boat believed to be carrying dozens of illegal migrants sank, Turkish authorities and a shipping agent said.
A ship carries out a search and rescue operation after a boat sank in the Bosphorus strait, near Istanbul November 3, 2014. Fisherman and coastguards pulled bodies from the sea at the mouth of Istanbul’s Bosphorus strait on Monday after the boat believed to be carrying dozens of illegal migrants sank, Turkish authorities and a shipping agent said.

At least 24 refugees died in chilly, choppy waters off the Turkish coast after the smuggling vessel transporting them sank at the confluence of the Bosphorus strait and the Black Sea, Turkish media reports said.

Rescue teams said that the overloaded boat was transporting about 40 migrants, thought to be mainly from Syria and Afghanistan. Seven were rescued, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

Turkey’s Coast Guard, aided by local fishermen, scoured the waters while helicopters flew overhead. Bad weather hampered the rescue effort.

“We are seeing bodies of children floating in the sea,” the Hurriyet Daily News quoted rescuer Ali Saruhan as saying. “The wind is making our task very difficult.”

The boat is believed to have departed from the Istanbul area early Monday, heading north through the Bosphorus toward the Black Sea. The strait is one of the world’s busiest waterways, and the Black Sea is a notoriously treacherous body of water, reaching depths of more than a mile just offshore.

Straddling Europe and Asia, Turkey has long been both a destination and a transit point for human trafficking. Since Syria’s civil war began nearly four years ago, Turkey has absorbed 1.6 million Syrian refugees, according to official figures. The actual number is likely much higher.

Desperate to reach Europe, migrants normally cross under cover of dark into Bulgaria, or sail from Turkey’s Aegean coast for Greece. Smugglers routinely overload the vessels, and many sink.

Eighty-one Syrian and Afhgan refugees were rescued off Istanbul two months ago, local media reported.

 

LA Times

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8 responses to “Smuggling boat sinks off of Turkey killing 24 refugees”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Aside from Hypothermia … If you’re going to spend $5000 to become an illegal entity, you’d think you’d contemplate another $60 on a lifejacket.

    1. Hind Abyad Avatar
      Hind Abyad

      Why these ships are always drowning.. it’s done on purpose remember the last one in Malta, the traffickers burned the ship laughing.

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        It’s not about rescuing people from bad situations … it’s mostly about money.
        Buy a cheap old boat on it’s last legs … Fill it to overflowing at $5000 a head.
        Hire some idiot to pilot it.

        The smuggler bosses know the boat will be impounded anyway if it reaches any ‘normal’ port of entry to ANY ‘normal’ country. (Lampedusa has a very large boat-graveyard … a scrap-business) And the gangs compete for ‘business’. But the cargo is not as valuable as running guns or drugs, and they really don’t care if it gets there.

        Meanwhile, the ‘concept’ that this is some kind of wonderful way to get to the ‘Lands Of Money’ – where streets are paved with gold, etc, etc, – remains in the heads of the Badly-Educated Masses seeking something better than what they have … a reasonable idea considering what they have, but badly scripted by people who never were taught that condoms might be better for solving their unending problems over the centuries …. it really isn’t better in the destinations.

        “Europe’s agony: Painfully high unemployment, inflation near zero, The Globe and Mail (Toronto), September 30, 2014
        • Unemployment among the 18 nations that make up the troubled euro zone held at 11.5 per cent in August, according to the statistics agency Eurostat. In the wider European Union, the jobless rate dipped to 10.1 per cent from 10.2 per cent.
        • Almost 25 million people can’t find work in the EU, more than 18 million of them in the euro zone.
        • Greece and Spain continue to have the highest unemployment in the region, at 27 per cent and 24.4 per cent, respectively.
        • Austria and Germany, at 4.7 per cent and 4.9 per cent, enjoy the lowest.
        • Among young people, unemployment now stands just slightly below that of July’s level, at 21.6 per cent in the EU and 23.3 per cent in the euro zone.
        • More than half the youth work force in Greece and Spain is jobless. And in Italy, youth unemployment is now running at more than 44 per cent.”

        Taking ‘care’ of ‘the boat people’ on Lampedusa or any other of the ‘ports in the storm’ becomes a thankless, and useless, task … as there’s no-one hiring them away from the places anyway. Part of the world’s 50 million refugees.
        Some choose to feed the sharks ….

        1. Hind Abyad Avatar
          Hind Abyad

          Very sad..a penthouse for sale at 12.700 millions in Beyrouth..high rise apartment for 25 millions..blocking the air for the people who are not Millionaires. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35H2CObc2uE

          1. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            You sure those are not Lebanese Lira ?? Especially after the last 3 years?
            :-)))))
            By the way, stone in Lebanon is like wood in Canada … although we can note the ‘average’ consumer here gets ‘chip-board’ these days. :-))))
            And you wondered why Israel promotes cement??
            ‘Canada AM’ sometimes highlights the homes no-one can afford … which is probably why they are ‘shown’ most of the time without furniture … although I suspect they are the ‘rarities’ of lost generations … or Russian Expats. :-)))

          2. Hind Abyad Avatar
            Hind Abyad

            In dollars, 1million$ for an apartment..
            http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/18630I

            All Sea front is private properties.euchh..it don’t look like Lebanon:((( http://www.waterfrontcity.com/

  2. Maborlz Ez-Hari Avatar
    Maborlz Ez-Hari

    The last time I checked Syria and Afghanistan were Moslem countries correct, I don’t know why their people will continually risk their lives to get out of there? Hellooooooo?

    1. Leborigine Avatar
      Leborigine

      Maybe because they are both big Shitholes 🙂

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