New tragedy in the Aegean Sea: Five Afghans drowned, including a six-month-old baby

Five Afghans, including two children and a six-month-old baby, drowned last night in the Aegean Sea while trying to reach Greece as Turkey begins to implement the EU agreement to stop illegal migration, reports the Patria News Agency.

The refugee wave coming via the dangerous sea route shows very few signs of abating after Turkey reached a draft agreement with the EU on Monday, as part of which it seeks to stop the influx in exchange for financial support and political concessions.

Turkish Minister for European Affairs Volkan Bozkir said that the agreement, under which Ankara agreed to take back all illegal migrants, does not apply to those who have already arrived on the Greek islands. He expects the number of those returned to eventually be in the thousands or tens of thousands.

In accordance with the agreement reached on Monday, Turkey has agreed to take back all illegal migrants from European countries in exchange for more funds, earlier introduction of visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to Europe, and acceleration of negotiations on Turkey's membership in the EU. 

The purpose of the agreement, as stated by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and EU leaders, is to discourage illegal migrants from traveling to Europe and to try to stop human smuggling that has led to the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

More than 130,000 people have arrived in Europe via Turkey this year, while 350 people have lost their lives on the dangerous journey, according to the International Organization for Migration, writes Index.