Five Afghans, including baby, drown trying to reach Greece from Turkey

Five Afghans, including two children and a six-month old baby, drowned in the Aegean overnight trying to reach Greece as Turkey starts to implement an EU agreement to curb illegal migration.

The stream of migrants risking perilous sea crossings has so far shown little sign of abating after Turkey reached the draft deal with the EU on Monday, under which it will try to stem the flow in return for funding and political rewards

Turkey's EU Minister Volkan Bozkir said the deal, under which Ankara agreed to take back all irregular migrants, does not apply to those who have already reached the Greek islands and that the number returned was ultimately expected to be in the thousands or tens of thousands.

The top U.N. rights official voiced concern the tentative deal may lead to "collective and arbitrary expulsions" illegal under international law, and urged the EU to adopt a more humane set of measures at a summit on March 17.

One of the victims from Wednesday night's capsize, in which their boat hit rough weather as it traveled toward the Greek island of Lesbos, managed to swim ashore but died during attempts to revive him, a coastguard official told Reuters.

Of the four bodies found at sea, one was that of a six-month-old baby, rescuers said. Nine other people were pulled from the water alive. - Read More at the Reuters

Five Afghans, including baby, drown trying to reach Greece from Turkey

EU to ease Greece migrant buildup, wrestles Turkey deal - Reuters