Greece: Two women dead in apparent migrant shipwreck

The Greek coast guard said that the circumstances of the deaths of the two women were unclear, adding that an investigation was underway to determine what exactly had occurred in the waters surrounded the tiny island in the Aegean Sea.

Officials added that the vessel that was used to reach the island from the nearby Turkish coast had not been found. 

There were no reports of missing people from the shipwreck after authorities spent hours searching for other survivors.

The coast guard added that there was no immediate information on the nationalities of the migrants and the two bodies.

Those rescued were transferred to the island of Leros.

Farmakonisi is less than 10 kilometers away from the Turkish resort town of Didim and has an official population of only 21 inhabitants.

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Greece at the forefront of migrant crossings

Earlier in April, another 16 people died while trying to reach Greece — with one dinghy sinking in Turkish waters and another in Greek waters.

Greece is a major point of entry into the European Union for people departing from the Turkish mainland. While the distance between the two countries can be minimal in the Aegean Sea, with the Greek Islands often within sight of the Turkish coast, smugglers often use overcrowded boats which are not made to withstand the conditions of the open seas.

The Greek government has increased its patrols at sea to try to stem migrant flows and prevent further deaths.

Nevertheless, more than 54,000 people managed to reach Greece using this sea route last year, with another 7,700 using the land route from Turkey to Greece, according to the UNHCR.

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Changing migrant routes

In the past ten years, over 250,000 migrants have been intercepted in total in the Aegean, but thousands of others have died while trying.

In response to this steady rise in successful interceptions at sea, many smuggling groups have moved their routes further south, with a growing rate of boats departing from North Africa towards southern Greece instead.

The UNHCR says that since the beginning of this year, over 9,000 people have reached Greece using irregular means.

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with AP, Reuters