Thirty-six people from Syria, Iraq and Algeria were found washed up on Turkey's west coast Tuesday after their boats capsized in rough seas in two separate incidents. Up to 26 people from one boat were found on the shore near the resort of Ayvalik, the Dogan News Agency reported, according to the Middle East Eye. From the other boat, the bodies of 10 people were found off the resort of Dikili, about 30 miles south of Ayvalik.
"We heard a boat sink and hit the rocks. I surmise these people died when they were trying to swim for the rocks," an unnamed eyewitness told Hurriyet, according to the Irish Times.
The coast guard and police said it rescued 12 others from the sea and the rocks on the Ayvalik coastline, and that the search for survivors would continue with the deployment of three boats and a helicopter.
Colder weather and increased policing on Turkey's shores have not discouraged refugees from attempting this journey from the Middle East, Asia and Africa in often unsafe boats, according to RTé News.
"Migrants and refugees continue to enter Greece at a rate of over 2,500 a day from Turkey, which is very close to the average through December," said International Organization for Migration spokesman Joel Millman in Geneva.
Since the start of the civil war in Syria five years ago, Turkey has spent $8.5 billion to feed and house some 2.2 million Syrian migrants and refugees, according to Al-Jazeera.
