ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities rescued 40 migrants from a sinking dinghy in the Aegean Sea on Wednesday and charged two of them with causing a shipwreck and endangering lives for allegedly scuttling the flimsy vessel as a coast guard boat approached.
A coast guard statement said all 40 people were in good health after being picked up from the inflatable dinghy off the eastern Greek island of Lesbos.
Lesbos is close to the Turkish mainland and a major entry point for people from the Middle East and Africa seeking a better life in the European Union, who pay smuggling gangs for a berth on a small boat.
The statement said one of the people on the boat slashed its rubber sides with a sharp implement “endangering the passengers” as the coast guard patrol boat approached, while the other threw the small outboard engine into the sea.
It wasn't immediately clear why the migrants sought to destroy the vessel.
Similar incidents have been reported in recent weeks off Lesbos and other eastern Greek islands, as well as in past years, but charges against migrants for damaging the boats are very rare.
Greece's coast guard has stepped up patrols in the eastern Aegean to deter migrant crossings, frequently preventing boats from entering Greek waters and calling Turkish authorities to pick them up and return them to Turkey.
But humanitarian groups, charities and Turkish authorities have accused Athens of also secretly and illegally deporting back to Turkey migrants who managed to reach Greek territory. The Greek government strongly denies that.
___
Follow AP’s global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
