Mohammed Jahanfar
ATHENS, Sept 28 (Agencies): More than 20 migrants or refugees were rescued and one child died Thursday on a Greek island after the boat they sailed from the Turkish coast overnight either capsized or sank, Greek authorities said.
Greece's coast guard said a vessel from the European border agency Frontex initially picked up six people it spotted in the sea off the small southeastern island of Kastellorizo. One of the six, a 9-year-old girl, was taken to a hospital on the island but later died, the coast guard said.
Greek authorities launched a search and rescue operation with patrol boats and a helicopter, and crews later found and rescued another 20 people who had managed to swim to a rocky coast on the island.
It was unclear what type of vessel the migrants had used and whether it sank or capsized. The coast guard said it appeared all those on board had been accounted for, but they were continuing the search and rescue operation as a precaution.
Greece was the preferred route for refugees and migrants fleeing war and poverty in their homelands to seek access into the European Union until last year, when an EU-Turkey deal drastically reduced the number of people heading to Greek islands from the Turkish coast.
Despite the deal and the overcrowded conditions in the camps on the Greek islands, hundreds still make the journey every week, using often unseaworthy and overcrowded inflatable dinghies or small wooden boats.
Meanwhile, US Navy veteran Mohammed Jahanfar has traveled overseas four times in the last year to visit his Iranian fiancee, most recently hoping to complete government paperwork that would allow her to come live with him in the United States.
But the 39-year-old now fears they will be forever separated after President Donald Trump's administration rolled out new restrictions blocking most Iranians from traveling to America. The new restrictions covering citizens of Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen - and some Venezuelan government officials and their families - are to go into effect Oct. 18.
"It is devastating," said Jahanfar, who works as a salesman in Long Beach, California, and has lived in the United States for three decades. "There should be no reason why my fiancée, who is an educated person in Iran, who has a master's degree, why we cannot be with each other. I cannot wrap my head around it."
This is the Trump administration's third measure to limit travel following a broad ban that sparked chaos at U.S. airports in January and a temporary order issued months later that was challenged in the courts and expired last weekend.
Jahanfar is among 385,000 Iranian immigrants in the United States, according to the Census Bureau, more than any of the other countries covered by the travel restrictions issued last weekend.
The U.S. has a many-layered history with Iran, a Middle Eastern ally until the pro-American shah was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The shah came to the U.S. and so did tens of thousands of other Iranians.
Now, the U.S. and Iranian governments have no diplomatic relations. Even so, many Iranians and Iranian-Americans have been able to regularly travel back and forth and kept close family relations.
The new restrictions range from an indefinite ban on visas for citizens of Syria to more targeted limitations. Iranians will not be eligible for immigrant, tourism or business visas but remain eligible for student and cultural exchange visas if they undergo additional scrutiny.
The measures target countries that the Department of Homeland Security says fail to share sufficient information with the U.S. or haven't taken necessary security precautions.
Iranian-American advocates said they've been fielding phone calls from frantic community members who fear they will remain separated from family or their dreams. Already, many Iranian visa applicants find themselves caught up in lengthy security checks, delaying their travel plans.
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