ATHENS: Four migrants died in the Aegean Sea on Wednesday, the Greek coastguard said, the latest migrant boat sinking in recent weeks.

The coastguard said in a statement the bodies of three men and a woman had been recovered near the island of Rhodes, while another 25 people had made it to shore.

No details were immediately available on the vessel that went down.

In late October, two people died near the island of Samos. Four more, including two infants, were lost near the island of Kos a few days earlier.

Rhodes is among Greek islands that have seen a growing influx of asylum-seekers in recent months.

Several hundred migrants late last month set up tents and cardboard houses outside the local government offices of the city of Rhodes, sparking anger among residents and local authorities.

More than 700 migrants arrived on the island during the last week of October alone, local media Rodiaki reported.

The Mediterranean country has seen a 25 per cent spike so far this year in the number of people fleeing war and poverty.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says 48,158 arrivals have been recorded so far in 2024, of whom around 42,000 arrived by boat and 6,000 by crossing the land frontier with Turkiye.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2024