According to survivors, the fishing boat carrying mainly Afghan and Pakistani migrants towards Italy capsized almost instantaneously on Wednesday. At least 78 people are known to have died, but the true number may be much higher. Hundreds of people were packed into the inadequate vessel, which foundered 50 miles from the Greek coastal town of Pylos.
In Greece, political parties suspended pre-election campaigning, and three days of mourning have been declared. But there is a reason why the doomed boat was travelling on the open sea, in one of the deepest parts of the Mediterranean. Migrant boats are taking bigger risks and making longer journeys to avoid the patrols and illegal pushbacks documented in Greece. During his campaign to be re-elected prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis made political hay by channelling Trumpian motifs and promising to extend a border wall with Turkey.
