A boat carrying 45 migrants mostly Kurds from the Kurdistan Region capsized in the sea west of the seaside town of Kaş in Antalya province, a migrant monitor said on Friday (July 23). An Iranian Kurdish woman is still missing.
The Kurdish migrants were mostly from Raparin administration in northern Sulaimani, according to the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees (IFIR) citing a source, noting the boat has headed toward Italy.
The boat capsized 161 miles (259.1) west of Kaş, as the Turkish patrols have launched an investigation to find the victims, the IFIR added.
The boat capsized near Crete island in Greece, where seventeen migrants from the Kurdistan Region were rescued, and ten migrants including seven from the Region, one Kurdish women from Iran and two Egyptian nationals are still missing, according to the latest figures Summit for Refugees and Displaced Affairs.
Due to poor economy and lack of employment in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, thousands of Iraqis migrate abroad and take hazardous routes to reach the European countries in a bid to find a better livelihood.
On July 17, 77 Iraqi migrants including Kurds were repatriated from Turkey.
More than 620,000 people in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq have migrated over the past six years, 256 have died and 173 are missing, head of Lutka Summit for Refugees and Displaced Affairs Aril Jalal said in June, noting migration is on the rise.
Turkey has been a key transit point for Iraqi, Syria, Afghani and Paki migrants aiming to cross into Europe in a bed to find a better livelihood there.
