A sailing yacht departing from the Turkish port of Marmaris landed nearly 50 migrants on a beach near the village of Kal...

A sailing yacht departing from the Turkish port of Marmaris landed nearly 50 migrants on a beach near the village of Kallithea on Rhodes Thursday, Greek coast guard authorities confirmed Friday. The captain of the vessel, a 50-year-old Egyptian national, was arrested and now faces migrant-smuggling charges. The yacht was subsequently destroyed by authorities, though no further details were provided on how. Among those brought ashore were 37 men, three women, and six children. The group had made the crossing from Marmaris, one of Turkey's major resort towns on the Aegean coast, to the southeastern Greek island. Greece has seen over 16,000 irregular arrivals so far in 2026, crossing by land and sea through Turkey and North Africa. More than half of that figure arrived via small boats making the long crossing from eastern Libya to Crete. Fewer than 400 people in total have now reached Rhodes this year, with Thursday's group included. The route from Marmaris to Rhodes is notably short, making the Turkish Aegean coast a persistent departure point for smuggling networks operating into Greek territory. Using a sailing yacht rather than a small inflatable dinghy marks a departure from the more common method of crossing, suggesting organized criminal involvement at a higher logistical level. #Rhodes #Immigration #Greece