Two drown, more missing in refugee boat tragedy in Aegean

Greek Coast Guard authorities announced on Wednesday that two people drowned and a still unclear number of migrants and refugees were missing after the wooden boat that was transferring them from Turkey to Lesvos island capsized.

A rescue operation was underway by the Greek Coast Guard in cooperation with Frontex to locate the missing people. The roughly 60 survivors gave conflicting information to local authorities about the number of passengers on board, according to the Greek national news agency AMNA.

The new tragedy in the Aegean Sea occurred a few hours before a EU summit that will examine the latest EU Commission plan to upgrade the European border agency to take a more active role in managing refugee influxes in the Mediterranean.

Under the proposal, the new European Border and Coast Guard would have the authority to patrol EU borders even when national authorities do not request or consent to such assistance.

However, Greece has expressed skepticism over the idea, raising issues of sovereign rights.

The country has been heavily criticized by European partners for failing to effectively manage the situation for months on end.

About 790,000 refugees of the total of 950,000 arrivals in Europe from the start of 2015 have landed on Greek shores, according to the latest UNHCR official statistics, while more than 3,500 people have lost their lives at sea. Endit