ISTANBUL — At least 25 migrants from Afghanistan died this week when the boat carrying them to Romania capsized in the Black Sea near Istanbul. The case illustrated the emergence of a new route that smugglers use to take migrants via Turkey into the European Union.
The boat Torun carried 43 Afghan migrants and a Turkish captain when it sank roughly 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the mouth of the Bosporus in the early hours of Nov. 3. Six people survived, while 12 were still unaccounted for. Turkish news reports say migrants paid 7,000 euros ($8,700) each for the journey that started in Bakirkoy, a district of Istanbul on the European shore of the Sea of Marmara.
News reports said the Torun was designed to carry a maximum of 10 people and started to sink as soon as it reached the Black Sea. Police arrested two Turks who are accused of getting the boat and sending the passengers on their way. The suspects told police that the Turkish captain initially refused to go out to sea with the overloaded boat but that a suspected Afghan migrant smuggler, identified as Abdullah S. in news reports, forced him to begin the journey. The captain also died.
As a direct neighbor of EU members Greece and Bulgaria, Turkey has long been a transit country for migrants from Asia, the Middle East and Africa seeking a better life in the West. The Syrian conflict, which has sent 1.6 million refugees into Turkey since 2011, is boosting the numbers of people trying to get into EU countries. Improved flight connections between some migrants’ countries of origin and Turkey as well as the easing of visa requirements for citizens of those countries also play a role.
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