At least 27 refugees and migrants drowned off the coast of Greece on Friday. The tragedy comes two days after a boat filled with 300 people sank nearby, leaving 29 dead. As the suffering continues, so does Europe’s struggle to come up with answers.
Bodies of babies and mothers washed ashore on famed Greek beaches on Friday. At least 27 people died. More than half of them were children in search of a secure life in Europe.
Rescue workers and fishermen tried to save who they could amid the chaos. Doctors unable to resuscitate some of the refugees were brought to tears.
“It’s been a very hectic day today. We had a boat of shore, we thought there was not so many people in there, and then we found out that many people had gone overboard, so we had a few people brought in on the dirt road which is a bit further from here. We has done resuscitation on one man, he died,” said Lette Demoor, doctor of Boat Refugee Foundation.
Meanwhile, European politicians continue to struggle to find a unified plan to accomodate the refugees, the number of whom arriving in the EU this year constitute about one percent of the population of the 28-nation bloc.
But there has been one recent agreement. Croatia, an EU member, will allow Serbia, which isn’t an EU member, to transfer closely-monitored refugees across the border. They won’t remain in the country for long.
“Croatian policemen with our trains will go to the Serbian side of the border, migrants will board there and then they will be transferred to Slavonski Brod where they will be registered. After they are registered they will be transferred to Slovenia,” said Vlado Doninic, Croatia police director.
From Slovenia, refugees are traveling to Austria, which describes the border situation as “very tense.” Once in Austria, most continue on to Germany, where the ruling coalition is on the verge of splintering due to refugee policy differences.
The leader of a Conservative party in southern Germany is warning that the conservative could splinter if Chancellor Angela Merkel doesn’t “correct” her open-door asylum policy.
