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TURKEY-MIGRATION
Eight migrants drown near Turkey coast
ISTANBUL, Jan 3, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Eight people drowned after a boat
carrying around 15 migrants sank off the coast of Turkey, the interior
ministry said Friday.
The incident happened on Wednesday night in the Aegean Sea, around eight
kilometres from the town of Fethiye in southwest Turkey, it said in a
statement.
The bodies of five men and three women were found by coastguards. Their
nationalities were not immediately known.
Turkey hosts some four million refugees, mostly from Syria, and is an
important transit point for migrants trying to reach Europe.
The number of crossings has greatly diminished after Turkey vowed to stop
unauthorised boats under a 2016 agreement with the European Union.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1746 hrs