UN refugee agency expresses concern over rise in fatal migrant shipwrecks in Greece

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The United Nations refugee agency has voiced concern at the rise in deaths of migrants trying to reach Greece by sea in small boats from Turkey, following two fatal shipwrecks this week. The UNHCR said in a statement on Friday that 17 people have died in that way this month, while the total so far this year is at least 45 deaths. Some 56,000 people have illegally entered Greece since January, mostly by sea. That’s a five-year high, and the number has already exceeded government estimates in October of some 50,000 arrivals by year-end.