CRI听力:Migrants Gather in Tourist Spot

The city of Bodrum, a magnet for wealthy tourists from Turkey and around the world, is these days drawing a different type of visitors - migrants fleeing conflicts in the Middle East and Africa seeking a better life in Europe.

The Greek island of Kos is only 4 kilometers from Turkey at its closest point.

The Turkey-Greece route has resurfaced these summer months as a thriving business for smugglers profiting from the stream of people fleeing war and poverty.

People such as Omar, a Syrian refugee, are hoping they will make it:

"I am trying to cross the (Aegean) sea for the fourth or fifth time. Not because I like Europe or because I am dreaming of Europe. We have heard about Europe, we have never seen Europe. We have heard that human beings have value there and are not (treated like) insects."

A children's playground a couple of blocks away from Bodrum's busy tourist shopping streets has become a makeshift staging post for migrants waiting to be smuggled.

Tourists like Salvatore Aiello have become witnesses to this happening while visiting Bodrum on vacation.

"The sensation is equal to deep sadness. We understand who is in Bodrum on vacation and who is here because they're in a difficult situation. It doesn't ruin the holiday, but it brings a sense of sadness while we are having a good time."

Turkish authorities have reported that 2,791 migrants have been caught in the Aegean Sea in the past five days alone, most of them Syrians.

Overall, more than 33,000 migrants have been caught or rescued in the Aegean this year, according to the governor's office in Izmir.

For CRI, I'm Xiao Yi.