The Latest: Sweden may deport up to 80,000 asylum-seekers

STOCKHOLM – The Latest on the continuing influx of asylum-seekers and migrants in Europe (all times local):

10:00 a.m.

Swedish Interior Minister Anders Ygeman says the country could deport between 60,000 and 80,000 asylum-seekers in coming years.

Ygeman told newspaper Dagens Industri that since about 45 percent of asylum applications are currently rejected, the country must get ready to send back tens of thousands of the 163,000 who sought shelter in Sweden last year.

"I think that it could be about 60,000 people, but it could also be up to 80,000," Ygeman was quoted as saying.

His spokesman, Victor Harju, confirmed the quotes Thursday, adding that the minister was simply applying the current approval rate to the record number of asylum-seekers that arrived in 2015. Harju adds: "That rate could of course change."

Germany and Sweden were the top destinations for asylum-seekers in Europe last year

___

8:45 a.m.

Greece's coast guard says it is unclear how many people are missing from the latest migrant boat sinking off an eastern Greek island that has claimed at least 11 lives.

Ten people have been rescued from Thursday's sinking north of the island of Samos. The coast guard said the survivors were in shock and their accounts of how many people were on board were confused and vague.

Five of the survivors were found clinging to a piece of wood, leading authorities to believe that the vessel that sank was made of wood.

The bodies of our boys, three girls, three men and one woman were recovered from the sea. A search and rescue operation was ongoing in the area by the Greek coast guard and vessels from the European border patrol agency Frontex.

___

8:05 a.m.

Greece's coast guard says at least 11 people, most of them children, have died in the latest migrant boat sinking off an eastern Greek island.

The circumstances of Thursday's sinking were unclear. The Greek coast guard and vessels from the European border patrol agency Frontex were carrying out a search and rescue operation off the island of Samos. Ten people were rescued, while 11 bodies — those of four boys, three girls, three men and one woman — were recovered.

The sinking is the second in two days. Another boat sank off the island of Kos on Wednesday, leaving seven dead, including two children.

Greece, with thousands of kilometers (miles) of coastline and islands very near the Turkish coast, is the main gateway into Europe for refugees and migrants.