THE rising migrant crisis is risking tourism on both sides of the Aegean, while a British captain has been detained for suspected human trafficking.

Around 40 Syrian Turkmens who have been living outside Bodrum were bussed to Soke by municipal police on May 25, following complaints from local shopkeepers and tourism companies.

Eight Syrian Turkmen families originally from Aleppo, who arrived in Bodrum a few weeks ago hoping to find jobs, ended up struggling to survive in a park in a marina alongside Neyzen Tevfik Street in central Bodrum. 

Bülent Şenol, the owner of a popular night club in Bodrum, Küba Bar, said the town had recently seen “inconveniencies” due to the Syrian Turkmens living in the nearby park. 

“The Syrians may have been victims of some ill-intentioned people. But I do not want to see them in front of my place right next to the Bodrum Port. I would like to see tourists there. The tourism industry was already in trouble here. If necessary measures are not taken, we will face serious problems,” Şenol said.

The municipal police asked the refugees to leave the park after they received complaints from several shopkeepers and local workers, saying they would be given financial assistance if they decided to move to another province.

They were eventually convinced to leave the park and sent in a bus to Söke.

Meanwhile a British captain, understood to have been formerly from Didim, was questioned by the Coast Guard after a boat on which he was on containing 84 migrants from Syria was stopped as it sailed from Bodrum to Kos

TRT, the Turkish state TV channel, said the man, identified as Richard H, was reported to have asked for help from the Coast Guard when his 15m boat ran close to a reef and lost direction.

The Coast Guard rescued the migrants and took the captain in for questioning.

Meanwhile, on Kos, boat people from Syria and Afghanistan and British holidaymakers have clashed– as migrants have turned the Greek island, popular with cheap package deals, into a ‘disgusting’ hellhole, reported the Daily Mail.

As families – enjoying some summer sun with their kids during the half term break – relax on sun loungers on the beach, just yards away scores of migrants have set up camp, sleeping on cardboard boxes with rubbish strewn everywhere.

Anne Servante, a nurse from Manchester, had come to Kos expecting a relaxing break with her husband Tony, a retired plumber.

Instead her summer break has turned into a nightmare as penniless migrants who are in Greece to claim asylum sit outside their restaurant and watch them eat.

Calling it ‘disgusting’, Anne fumed: ‘We have been coming here for almost ten years. We like to eat, drink and relax. But this time the atmosphere has changed. 

‘It’s really dirty and messy here now. And it’s awkward. I’m not going to sit in a restaurant with people watching you.’

Another British couple on holiday with their grandchildren from Birmingham said: ‘We have never been before but we don’t like it.

‘We won’t be coming back if it’s like a refugee camp again next year.’

Migrants from war-torn Afghanistan and Syria have taken shelter under arcades on the seafront in Kos town as they wait to receive security clearance for onward travel to mainland Greece.

The wealthiest groups have smart phones and credit cards and are staying in local hotels for 10-15 euros a night – while the rest are camped out on the harbour side and at a derelict hotel on the edge of Kos town.

Straggly migrants straight from the boats march straight through the town with backpacks on to join friends and register for their travel permits at the police station.