Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 4, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 4, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleFifteen migrants died in a boat collision with the Greek coast guard near Chios. Rescue operations continue as Greece's migration policies face scrutiny.
ATHENS, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Fifteen migrants died in the Aegean Sea off Greece on Tuesday after their boat collided with a coast guard vessel off the island of Chios, the coast guard said.
A coastguard official said they spotted a dingy transporting migrants towards Chios, which lies a few miles off the coast of Turkey, and ordered them to turn back.
"The smugglers manoeuvred toward the coast guard vessel causing a collision," the official told Reuters.
The coast guard said 25 migrants were rescued but one of them, a woman, later died. A search and rescue operation was ongoing.
Reuters was unable to independently verify how the collision occurred. The nationality of the migrants was not clear.
Two coast guard officers were injured and transferred to hospital, a second official told Reuters. Witnesses reported that about 30-35 people were on board, a government official said.
Greece, in the southeast corner of the European Union, has long been a favoured gateway to Europe for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
In 2015-2016, Greece was at the frontline of Europe's migration crisis and nearly one million people landed on its islands, including Chios, from Turkey.
In recent years, arrivals have dropped and Greece has toughened its stance on migrants. Since 2019, the centre-right government has reinforced border controls with fences and sea patrols.
Greece has come under scrutiny for its treatment of migrants and refugees approaching by sea, including one shipwreck in 2023 in which hundreds of migrants died after what witnesses said was the coastguard’s attempt to tow their trawler.
The EU border agency said last year that it was reviewing 12 cases of potential human rights violations by Greece, including some allegations migrants seeking asylum were pushed back from Greece's frontiers.
Greece denies that it violates human rights or that it forcefully returns asylum seekers from its shores.
(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas, Yannis Souliotis and Renne Maltezou; Editing by Edward McAllister)
A coast guard is a maritime security organization responsible for enforcing laws and regulations on the seas, conducting search and rescue operations, and ensuring the safety of navigation.
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of humans for the purposes of forced labor, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation.
Migration policies are laws and regulations that govern how individuals can enter, reside, and work in a country, often aimed at managing immigration and protecting human rights.
A rescue operation is a coordinated effort to save individuals in danger, often involving emergency services and specialized teams.
A financial crisis is a situation in which the value of financial institutions or assets drops rapidly, leading to widespread economic instability.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
