Dozens of refugees believed dead after boat sinks in Greek waters

Greek authorities have said dozens of refugees are believed dead after a boat carrying as many as 50 people, according to one witness, sank off the island of Folegandros, in the second major loss of life in the Mediterranean within days.

Almost 24 hours after the rescue operation was launched late on Tuesday, coastguard officials said it was unlikely survivors would be found.

By late on Wednesday rescuers had found the body of only one man, he said.

The incident comes less than five days after UN migration officials said 164 people had drowned off the coast of Libya, now the dominant transit point for people fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.

Attempted crossings from the anarchic oil-rich country have surged in recent months amid an unprecedented crackdown on refugees in Tripoli, its capital.

In two separate shipwrecks on Friday and Saturday rescuers retrieved the corpses of those who had drowned when wooden boats heading from Libya to Italy capsized in rough seas. The loss of life brought the death toll of those using the central Mediterranean route to about 1,500 since the start of the year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

A growing number of migrant boats are also heading to Italy, via Greek territorial waters from Turkey, with almost 12,000 sailings recorded this year.

Earlier, authorities found 12 people who had managed to escape in an inflatable dinghy that had been tethered to the ill-fated vessel. The survivors, who included a woman and four adolescents, were predominantly from Iraq although three Syrians and two Egyptians were also among them, according to officials. One survivor told the Greek coastguard that the boat had begun taking in water after running into engine trouble and that as many as 50 people could have been onboard.

NGOs have increasingly voiced alarm at the intensity of the deterrence policies adopted at the EU external borders. In recent months Greece has erected a 25 mile-long (40km) steel wall along the land frontier it shares with Turkey and deployed sound cannon capable of firing bursts of deafening noise as part of a concerted EU strategy to deter migrants.