Video: Turkish guards ‘hit migrants in boat’

Desdemona Despair

12 March 2016 (BBC News) – The BBC has been given a video showing Turkish coast guards using sticks against a boat full of migrants as they sail to Greece in the Aegean Sea.

The incident is said to have happened in Turkish waters as the migrants were on their way to the island of Lesbos.

The migrants accused coast guards of attacking them, but the coast guards say they were trying to stop the boat without harming the occupants.

The EU and Turkey are discussing new moves to curb the flow of refugees.

Europe is facing its biggest refugee crisis since World War Two. Last year, more than a million people entered the EU illegally by boat, mainly going from Turkey to Greece.

Most of them were Syrian, fleeing the country’s four-year civil war. Another 2.7 million Syrian refugees are currently in Turkey, which is struggling to cope with the influx.

More than 132,000 migrants have arrived by boat into Greece so far this year – a large increase on the same period last year.

The volunteer in Lesbos who sent the video to the BBC said the incident occurred in Turkish waters opposite the island. [more]

Migrant crisis: Turkish guards ‘hit migrants in boat’