UNHCR deeply saddened by loss of life at sea, calls for renewed efforts to prevent further tragedies 

GENEVA/ATHENS – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives in two separate incidents off the Greek islands of Lesvos and Samos on 19 October.

At least 12 people, including an infant, are reported to have died during the two shipwrecks, while search-and-rescue efforts are continuing off Samos and the full circumstances are still being established.

Our thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones and with the survivors of these tragedies.

UNHCR is following both incidents closely and has offered support to the authorities and survivors, including interpretation. We stand ready to provide further assistance as needed.

The incidents occurred as authorities responded to another incident off Crete, where dozens of people, most of them reportedly from Sudan, were found on a beach, and search efforts for a reported missing person were ongoing.

These incidents are a stark reminder that refugees and migrants continue to put their life and the one of their children at risk, undertaking dangerous journeys across the sea in search of safety, protection and a chance to rebuild their lives, particularly as safe legal alternatives are not available.

“There is a real danger in becoming accustomed to tragedies at sea. As lives continue to be lost on dangerous journeys, we must not allow indifference to take hold. Doing so diminishes both the dignity of those who perish and the reality of our collective responsibility”, said Laura Lo Castro, UNHCR’s Representative in Greece.

As of end of September 2026, an estimated 2,444 people have been reported dead or missing on the Mediterranean and the West Africa Atlantic maritime routes since the start of the year.¹

The unacceptable loss of life underscores once again the urgent need to preserve and strengthen life-saving rescue capacities, to continue reinforcing access to effective protection and solutions along the routes, to invest in assistance programs in first countries of asylum and, most important of all, to ensure an end to conflicts.

These deaths are not inevitable. They are a stark reminder of the consequences of conflict, forced displacement and the lack of safe alternatives available to people fleeing danger.

For more information, please contact: 

• In Athens: Stella Nanou, [email protected], +30 6944586037

• In Geneva (regional): Kathryn Porteous, [email protected], +33 6 70 72 51 94 

• In Geneva: Matthew Saltmarsh, [email protected], +41 79 967 99 36 
  
  

¹ Data source: Missing Migrants Project by International Organization for Migration (IOM).