Six Afghan Refugee Children Drown in Turkish Waters

Due to the capsizing of a plastic boat on Tuesday, December 8, which was carrying a group of refugees from Turkey to Greece, six Afghan refugee children drowned. According to Turkey's state news agency, five other refugees, including a 12-year-old boy who was wearing a life jacket and floating on the water, were rescued. The search for two other refugees who went missing in this incident is ongoing. The Associated Press reports that the Turkish Coast Guard has found the bodies of the six children, but the state news agency did not disclose their ages, only stating that one of them is an infant. It appears that these refugees intended to reach the island of Kos in Greece from the coast of Sezme in Turkey despite bad weather conditions, using an inflatable plastic boat. The state news agency indicates that wooden planks used for reinforcing the boat broke in the middle of the sea, causing holes in the plastic body of the boat and leading to its sinking. This year, over 700,000 migrants and refugees have reached Greece by crossing the sea, most of whom have fled the Syrian civil war and armed conflicts in Iraq. Nearly all of these individuals have passed through Turkey and have paid smugglers to navigate the dangerous sea route to Greece in small, unsafe boats. Hundreds of refugees, including many children, have drowned in the Aegean Sea this year. The Associated Press reminds that the Turkish government has intensified its efforts to prevent refugees from moving towards Greece in recent weeks. Last week, Turkish police detained about three thousand migrants and refugees from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria near the coastal city of Sezme. The shores around Sezme are one of the main departure points for migrants from Turkey to Greece. The Turkish government's active response in recent weeks is a result of negotiations with the European Union and promises from European countries to expedite Turkey's application for EU membership. One of the EU's conditions is that the Turkish government must prevent Syrian migrants from moving towards the EU. However, Turkish officials are unwilling to say whether the detention of three thousand refugees last week is related to this agreement between the two parties. Amnesty International has criticized the detention of these refugees by the Turkish government, describing it as a 'warning' action.