Refugee Boat Disaster Near Greece

From Al Jazeera:

Rescue ships fanned out on Thursday in search of hundreds of refugees and migrants feared dead after their overcrowded fishing boat capsized and sank as they tried to reach Europe.

At least 79 people are confirmed to have died in the disaster.

Rescuers saved 104 passengers from the boat that sank in deep waters off Greece’s coast early on Wednesday while trying to travel from Libya to Italy. Read more.

From NPR:

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said she was “deeply saddened” by the tragedy and promised to strengthen cooperation between the European Union and nearby countries to try to further crack down on migrant smugglers.

But human rights groups argue that the crackdown means migrants and refugees are being forced to take longer and more dangerous routes to reach safe countries. Read more..

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