Eighteen migrants drown after boat sinks off near Turkey’s coast

Reuters reports that a large amount of people are still attempting to make the trip from Turkey to Greece, although the winter months have seen a slowdown in the numbers crossing.

The bodies of the dead refugees were taken to the Greek island of Leros and then to Rhodes for medical examination, according to the Anadolu report.

It also highlighted shortcomings in other areas, including the fact that only two out of 11 planned “hotspots” in Italy and Greece for the processing of migrants were operational, one on the Italian island of Lampedusa and the other on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Europe is experiencing the worst migrant crisis since the aftermath of the Second World War as millions of thousands of refugees or migrants, mainly from war-torn Syria, flood into the continent.

The much touted EU-Turkey cooperation deal has done little to slow the number of migrants entering Europe since it was clinched in November, an EU report revealed Thursday.

According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 781,000 migrants have arrived in Greece by sea since the start of the year, mostly from Turkey.

Speaking after talks in Athens with his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias the Macedonian minister said the blockages could be “overcome if Athens implemented a “credible (asylum-seeker) registration process”.

Sarandon has been on the eastern coast of Lesvos near the airport since early Friday and remains at the spot, which is a frequent landing point for migrant and refugee boats.

The EU and Turkey signed a deal at a particular summit on November 29, 2015 based mostly on the Joint Motion Plan of 15 October, which incorporates the coordinated efforts of each side to stop irregular migration flows to the EU.

Leaders also urged European Union ambassadors to arrange for the rapid delivery of a promised three billion euros ($3.25 billion) in aid for refugees in Turkey in return for its help in stemming the flow.