9 die as migrant boat sinks off Turkey’s Aegean coast

Via Hurriyet Daily News / Anadolu Agency – Nine people died early on Aug. 9 when a boat carrying 13 migrants sank off the western coast of Turkey, the Turkish coast guard said. Four people were rescued.

The boat sank off the coast of Aydın province, near Kuşadası, a popular tourist destination, it said. Kuşadası district governor Muammer Aksoy said seven children and two women were identified as casualties with no one missing.

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Exile wreaks havoc on refugees’ sexual and reproductive health

Via Relief Web – Refugee women and girls face extraordinary hardships. They endure grave risks and often brutal violence, and many are thrust into poverty. But they can also face another, more intimate, hardship, one that is seldom discussed – the effects of exile on their sexual and reproductive health.

Some 475,000 Syrian refugees have sought safety in the desert city of Sanliurfa, Turkey, an hour’s drive from the Syrian border. To meet their needs, UNFPA is operating four women’s and girls’ safe spaces in the city, which are all supported by European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).

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Four missing from capsized boat likely fleeing Turkish civil servants

Via Ahval News (19th July) – A boat that capsized on the Maritsa river on the Greek-Turkish border was likely carrying Turkish civil servants fleeing the crackdown after the July 2016 coup attempt, four of whom are still missing, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported on Thursday.

Greek authorities have rescued three men, a woman and a child from the boat, according to the newspaper.

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Fleeing mother and child drown crossing River Maritsa

Via Ahval News (20th July)– The bodies of a Turkish mother and one of her three missing children have been found on the shore of the Maritsa river on the Greek-Turkish border, Turkish news sources reported on Friday.

Hatice Akçabay and the body of her one-year-old son were discovered in Edirne province on the Turkish side of the Maritsa, known is Greece as the River Evros. Akçabay’s two older sons, four and six years of age, are still missing.

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Number of Turks granted asylum doubles in Germany

Via Ahval News (22th July) – The number of Turkish citizens granted asylum have doubled in Germany in comparison to last year, according to a report by the country’s Federal Migration and Refugee Department quoted by independent news platform T24.

Turkey is now the third biggest source of those granted asylum in the country behind Syria and Iraq and ahead of countries including Iran, Afghanistan and Somalia, the report said.

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Reporting on the Turkish-EU Border Regime