Infants Drown off Greek Coast in Refugee Boat Disaster

Eleven refugees and migrants died off the Greek coast Sunday, local coastguards have reported.

Among the dead were four babies and at least two children, Greek coastguards said according to AFP.

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Most of the bodies were found inside a capsized boat off the coast of the Greek island Samos. The boatload of refugees and migrants was believed to have attempted the dangerous journey to Europe from Turkey.

Europe is currently facing its largest influx of refugees and migrants in decades, with hundreds of thousands of displaced people moving attempting to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa and the Middle East to escape conflict in countries including Syria.

The conditions Syrian refugees encounter in neighboring countries like Jordan are deteriorating in refugee camps as numbers continue to grow. Around 3,000 have died or gone missing in 2015. Most of them have drowned in the Mediterranean from treacherous boat trips to European countries including Italy and Greece.

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Between January and October 2015, more than 500,000 people arrived on the Greek islands, up nearly 1,370 percent from all of 2014. According to a report from Save the Children, up to 8,000 people are arriving every day in Greece, 23 percent of them children.

Global refugee levels are now at their highest point since the aftermath of World War II, and European nations have been divided over how to handle the influx of refugees and migrants.

The United Nations said in September that it expected more than 850,000 people to arrive to Europe in 2016, meaning that the number of refugees in Europe will soon reach millions.

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