IZMIR, TURKEY (Catholic Online) - Less than half of those aboard survived, with 51 people managing to swim ashore about 50 yards away. The passengers were fleeing to Europe.
Nearly all of the survivors were those on deck at the time of the sinking. It is believed they were able to jump away from the vessel and swim ashore while many women and children below decks had little chance to escape. 

The smugglers responsible for transporting the refugees survived and have been arrested.

Images of the rescue show divers removing the bodies of lifeless children and women from the sea, then transporting them in body bags to shore. 

Unbeknownst to the passengers, had the vessel completed its journey, the people would have been delivered to human smugglers who were promising to transport the people to England. Of course, such transport is never free and these people would have simply become part of a vast underground human trafficking network that courses through Europe, capitalizing on refugees from troubled regions. 

Some refugees are aware of the conditions in the Turkish camps which have been set up by the UN and other aid agencies to provide temporary shelter for refugees, however those conditions are difficult because insufficient humanitarian aid is available to go around. In an effort to avoid that trouble, some refugees have turned to smugglers without realizing the danger they're getting into.
Last month, the UN estimated that about 100,000 people fled the country. 

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No matter what route of escape the refugees choose, there is always grave danger. Those making their way across the border to camps must avoid Syrian aircraft and militias that seek to punish those trying to flee. And for the ones that escape by ship, there's always the threat of human traffickers enslaving them or members of their family to pay for the service. 

There is just no easy path to safety for the Syrian people as conditions in that country steadily worsen. 

READ MORE:  World inaction causes disaster in Syria

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