18 refugees die as boat capsizes off Turkey

A boat carrying refugees from Turkey to Greece has capsized, killing some 18 people, Turkish state news report. The boat sank near the Turkish resort of Didim according to Anadolu Agency.

According to reports, a search and rescue operation launched after the latest sinking in the Aegean Sea, has rescued some 15 people so far, but three children are believed to be among those who lost their lives.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says at least 321 have drowned trying to get to Greece between January and March this year.

Meanwhile, Macedonia has set new restrictions on refugees coming from Greece, which may worsen the bottleneck on the border, as over 2,000 migrants, most of whom the IOM says are from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, are arriving into Greece from Turkey every day, hoping to travel further north through Europe.

However, some EU countries recently re-imposed internal border controls and Macedonia sharply reduced the numbers allowed to cross, leading to a build-up on the Greek side of the border.

The BBC reports that Macedonia had stopped allowing entry to anyone from areas in Iraq and Syria it did not consider to be active conflict zones, therefore blocking access for anyone from Damascus or Baghdad.

A spokesman for the UN's refugee agency, Babar Baloch, called the development "concerning" and said even some migrants from the Syrian cities of Latakia and Homs were being turned back.

“While a truce between the Syrian government and rebels in Homs was signed in December, the city remains a scene of devastation,” he explained.

An emergency summit will take place between the EU and Turkey on Monday to try to seek a common approach to handling the flow of arrivals, after European Council President Donald Tusk said he had been told by the Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan that his country was ready to take back all refugees apprehended in Turkish waters.