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'Worst Refugee Shipwreck': Turkey Deal Forces Migrants on Deadliest Route

© REUTERS / Marina Militare/Handout via REUTERSMigrants from a capsized boat are rescued during a rescue operation by Italian navy ships "Bettica" and "Bergamini" off the coast of Libya in this handout picture released by the Italian Marina Militare on May 25, 2016
Migrants from a capsized boat are rescued during a rescue operation by Italian navy ships Bettica and Bergamini off the coast of Libya in this handout picture released by the Italian Marina Militare on May 25, 2016 - Sputnik International
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Sea-Watch, a private organization helping refugees who try to cross the Mediterranean Sea, reports possibly one of the worst shipwrecks involving migrants that occurred on May 26.

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Ruben Neugebauer, a Sea-Watch representative, told Sputnik that while the entire extent of the disaster remains as yet unclear, it was confirmed that at least three wooden boats carrying refugees capsized today.

"Sixteen emergency signals were sent in total. Sea-Watch was called to assist a capsized boat. While en route to the stricken vessel, we detected yet another capsized boat. Over 130 people were rescued and one of our cutters is currently retrieving the bodies from the shipwreck site," he said.

Neugebauer remarked that the total number of casualties is unknown. One of the Sea-Watch’s partner organizations reported that about 500 people ended up in the water and that unfortunately not all of them survived.

"It is clear that the extent of today’s disaster is much greater than that of any of the similar incidents before. And it means that just like the year before we do not control the situation," Neugebauer said.

He also mentioned that the capsized boats were carrying refugees from Syria and Iraq, which means that after the relatively safe migrant route across the Aegean Sea and the Balkans was closed, they had to resort to using much more dangerous paths on their quest to reach Europe.

Neugebauer pointed out that rescue operations cannot be considered a permanent way to resolve this problem, and that unless a political solution is found, similar disasters may occur in the future.

"Refugees once again have to resort to using the more dangerous route across the Mediterranean as a result of the deal between Turkey and the EU which closed the relatively safe route across the Aegean Sea. So the only way to solve this problem is to open the legal ways for refugees to reach Europe," he surmised.

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