At least 12 dead 12 missing in latest Aegean boat sinking

(MENAFN- Arab News) IDOMENI Greece: A wooden smuggling boat carrying about 50 people sank Wednesday in the eastern Aegean Sea. Greek authorities said at least 12 people drowned including six children and 12 others were missing.
In northern Greece riot police were removing hundreds of protesting migrants from a border crossing into Macedonia which is denying them entry.
Greek coast guard and navy vessels a helicopter and a vessel from the European border agency Frontex were searching for survivors off the Greek islet of Farmakonissi after the boat sank early Wednesday. Authorities said 26 people were rescued.
Weather conditions in the area were good but survivors told the coast guard the boat had begun taking on water shortly after setting sail from Turkey.
Greece is the main entry point for asylum-seekers trying to enter the 28-nation European Union. More than 700000 people have arrived so far this year. Few want to remain in financially stricken Greece with almost all heading to the border with Macedonia then through the Balkans to more prosperous European nations further north.
Greek police launched an operation just after dawn Wednesday to clear the migrants many of them from Iran Morocco and Pakistan from the border area.
Escorted by police motorcyclists and patrol cars nearly 30 buses carrying about 1500 people headed south from the Idomeni border crossing area. The buses were expected later Wednesday in Athens where authorities have set up shelters and will encourage the migrants to make asylum applications in Greece.
Police said 10 migrants were detained for resisting a transfer to the buses. Journalists and photographers were also briefly detained despite obeying police instructions to keep away from certain areas.
The freight rail line was expected to open later in the day.

Identity cards

In Berlin Germany's cabinet agreed on Wednesday to introduce an identity card for refugees as it tries to better control the wave of migrants arriving from Syria Afghanistan and other trouble spots.
Around one million refugees are expected to arrive in Germany this year and local authorities have struggled to cope with scale and pace of the influx.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has come under increasing criticism by opposition groups and some of her conservative allies for opening up Germany's borders to Syrian refugees criticism that has increased since the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris.
The cards will include information on refugees' date and place of birth nationality and gender as well as a photo and details on height and eye color. Registration centers will also take fingerprints.