UNHCR expresses concern over rise in fatal migrant shipwrecks

The United Nations refugee agency has voiced concern at a 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 Friday that 17 people have died in such accidents this month, while the total so far this year is at least 45 deaths.

Some 56,000 people have illegally entered Greece since January 1, 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 the year's end.

The UNHCR representative in Greece, Maria Clara Martin, said the migrant deaths "highlight the urgent need for long-term responses and safer and credible alternatives" for people fleeing conflict, persecution, violence, or human rights violations.

"Counting lives lost at sea cannot become a norm - we should not get...