The death toll from the sinking of two migrant boats has risen to 21, with many still missing.
In one case, the boats went down hundreds of miles apart, prompting a dramatic overnight rescue effort, as residents and firefighters plucked migrants to safety.
Turkey and Greece are locked in a dispute over migration and maritime borders.
16 bodies of young African women and one young man were recovered by the coast guard on the eastern island of Lesbos after a dinghy carrying about 40 people sank. 13 people were believed to be missing and 10 women were rescued.
The women were in a state of panic and the coast guard is trying to figure out what happened. All of the women were from African countries and we hope that they made it to land.
The second rescue effort was launched hundreds of kilometers to the west off the island of Kythira, where a sailboat struck rocks and sank.
The bodies of at least four people were found in the water. When the bodies are recovered, the deaths will be recorded. Eighty people from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan have been rescued while a search continues for as many as 11 others still missing.
During the night on Kythira, survivors were pulled to safety up steep cliffs as others were buffeted by waves as they waited their turn at the bottom.
Martha Stathaki told The Associated Press that all the residents went to the harbor to help.
People climbed up the rocks to try and save themselves as the boat smashed against the rocks. It was amazing.
Kythira is located west of Turkey and is often used by traffickers to get to Italy.
The stories of migrant workers risk everything for a better life.
Greece and Turkey are at odds over the safety of migrants at sea, with Athens accusing Turkey of failing to stop migrant traffickers and using them to apply political pressure on the EU.
In recent months, traffickers have changed their routes in order to avoid Greek islands near the Turkish coast.
Greece's Shipping Minister said that Turkey's tolerance of gangs of ruthless traffickers has cost humans.
If the Turkish coastguard does not prevent their activities, the traffickers cram unfortunate people, without safety measures, into boats that cannot survive the weather conditions, putting their lives in danger.
Turkey has accused Greece of carrying out reckless deportations.
Turkey's president held up pictures of dead migrant children and accused Greece of turning the Aegean Sea into a graveyard.
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