Four people are killed in a boat accident involving migrants off a Greek island

ATHENS, Greece – Four people, including two children, died in an accident involving a migrant smuggling boat coming from nearby Turkey off the Greek island of Kos on Tuesday, according to Greek authorities.

A coast guard statement said 27 people had been rescued and no one had been reported missing. According to survivors, the accident occurred when the helmsman of the small boat performed a clumsy maneuver off Kos.

Ten passengers fell into the water and two women and two children died, the coast guard said. The survivors were picked up by Coast Guard ships.

Greek authorities are preparing for a possible surge in migrant arrivals due to ongoing fighting in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Earlier on Tuesday, an official warned that wars in the Middle East and Africa, combined with the effects of climate change, will put Europe under long-term and persistent immigration pressure.

Sofia Voultepsi, deputy minister for migration, also said a groundbreaking European Union migration pact earlier this year was still flawed in practical terms.

“We have received the (agreement), but the basic element is still missing: returns,” Voultepsi said. “We need a common asylum system, a common return system and a common integration system.”

The EU migration pact is due to come into force in mid-2026, after a new round of negotiations with the bloc’s 27 member states is expected to last about a year.

Voultepsi also expressed concern about the growing number of refugees in Lebanon due to ongoing Israeli airstrikes on the militant group Hezbollah.

Greece is an important entry point for migrants into the EU, most of them coming from Turkey and Libya in unsafe boats.

Earlier Tuesday, the coast guard said 81 migrants were rescued from a stranded ship traveling from Turkey to Italy. The rescue was carried out on Sunday with the help of two merchant ships. The rescued migrants told Greek authorities that they paid $8,500 each for the trip.

Elsewhere in Europe, an Italian Navy ship was due to dock in an Albanian port and intercept an initial group of 16 migrants in international waters. Their asylum applications will be processed in Albania instead of Italy under a five-year agreement between the two countries.

In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk is planning to temporarily suspend the right to asylum. The new migration policy was presented at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

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