The Greek authorities said dozens of refugees are believed to have died after a boat carrying as many as 50 people sank off the island of Folegandros, in the second major loss of life in the Mediterranean within days of people desperately trying to reach Europe.
Coastguard officials said it was unlikely that survivors from the shipwreck would be found after the rescue operation was launched late Tuesday.
Efforts will continue, but in waters very cold and very deep the chances of finding anyone alive are decreasing by the hour, said Nikos Kokkalas, the Hellenic coastguard spokesman. Our fear is that most of the people didn't manage to get off the boat and would have sunk with it to the bottom of the ocean. He said that rescuers had found the body of only one man by late Wednesday.
The incident comes less than five days after UN migration officials announced that 164 people had drowned off the coast of Libya, now the dominant transit point for people fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.
Recent months, an unprecedented crackdown on refugees in Tripoli has resulted in an increase in attempted crossings from the anarchic oil-rich country.
Rescuers retrieved corpses of those who had drowned when wooden boats from Libya to Italy capsized in rough seas in two separate shipwrecks on Friday and Saturday. The death toll of those using the central Mediterranean route has gone up to 1,500 since the beginning of the year, according to the International Organization for Migration.
A growing number of migrant boats are heading to Italy, via Greek territorial waters from Turkey, with almost 12,000 sailings this year.
"We are seeing that people are attempting such journeys in all seasons," Kokkalas said. It's no longer a seasonal phenomenon that only happens in the spring and summer. Greece s shipping ministry said that a naval frigate, four coastguard vessels, three Super Puma helicopters, a C-130 military transport plane, three passing ships and three private craft had participated in Wednesday s search and rescue operation. After the boat sank at around 8 pm on Tuesday, all were seconded. The hellenic air force helicopters were expected to continue scouring the area throughout the night.
Earlier in the day, authorities found 12 people who had managed to escape in an inflatable dinghy that had initially been tethered to the ill-fated vessel. The survivors, who included a woman and four adolescents, were mostly from Iraq, although three Syrians and two Egyptians were also among them, according to officials. One survivor told the Greek coastguard that the boat had begun taking in water after running into engine trouble and that as many as 50 people could have been on board.
Giorgos Skordilis, a shipping ministry official, said witnesses had described the boat sinking within a few minutes. He said it was totally unseaworthy and began to sink quickly. It was packed solid with people, from what we understand. Arrivals have dropped dramatically with the militarisation of its land and sea frontier and, say rights groups, persistent pushbacks of boats carrying asylum seekers Greece remains an initial destination for many attempting to enter the EU.
Pope Francis praised the Mediterranean Sea as a cemetery without tombstones and praised Europe for hardening its border policies with the sole aim of keeping asylum seekers out, as a matter of fact, according to a regional tour earlier this month.
These shipwrecks are a reminder that people continue to risk their lives in search of safety, said Stella Nanou, organisation spokesman in Athens. There need to be more regular pathways to be created. If there were legal and safe routes, those seeking refuge would have a choice. She said people were faced with the impossible dilemma of deciding whether to risk their lives by remaining in their home countries or embarking on dangerous voyages with the small chance of making it to Europe.
NGOs have voiced alarm at the intensity of the deterrence policies adopted at the EU's external borders. In recent months, Greece has erected a 40 km long steel wall along the land border it shares with Turkey and deployed a sound cannon capable of firing bursts of deafening noise as part of a concerted EU-strategy to deter migrants.