ATHENS: The bodies of two young asylum seekers have been discovered in the sea off Rhodes, near the Turkish coast, the Greek port police said on Tuesday.

The migrants were “a teenager and a younger child”, the police said.

They said the two young males were part of a group of 63 asylum seekers “from Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and Egypt” who were spotted by police near Ladiko Bay.

The vessel had set off from Turkiye, police said, adding that it was not clear how the migrants had perished. The police said that they were still searching for other people who might be in difficulty. Rhodes, the largest of the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea, in recent months has seen a rise in asylum seekers trying to reach Europe, namely from countries in Africa and Asia where there is conflict, persecution or poverty.

Drownings are frequent during the perilous crossing between the Turkish coast and the Greek islands. Two weeks ago, eight people drowned when their boat capsized off Rhodes and a further 26 were rescued by Greek authorities.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2025