At least 45 migrants drowned when three refugee boats sank today off Greece, as Turkey pledged to 'do everything' to stop migrants heading to Europe.

Despite wintry conditions, thousands of people fleeing war and misery are still embarking on the dangerous sea journey to seek a better life in Europe.

In a stark illustration of the high cost of the voyage, Greek and Turkish coastguards recovered the bodies of 45 migrants -- including 20 children -- whose boats capsized on their way to Greece, officials said today.

Greek rescuers pulled 74 people to safety after two boats ran into trouble off the Aegean islands of Farmakonisi and Kalolimnos in the early hours.   But the toll could rise as rescuers were still scouring the waters for people missing from the boat that capsized off Kalolimnos.

Of the survivors, 'most are in a state of shock. There were families on board and in some cases only the father survived,' United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees official Marco Procaccini said.

Charity Doctors without Borders (MSF in its French acronym), which is providing psychological care to survivors of the Kalolimnos shipwreck, described the horror on its Twitter account, saying 'one man lost his pregnant wife and two kids, a 17-year-old lost his brother, an entire family was swallowed by the sea'.

Separately, the Turkish coastguard found the bodies of three children today after a third boat sank near the seaside resort of Didim, the Dogan news agency reported.

The UN refugee agency said smugglers were offering desperate migrants discounts to lure them out.

"Newly arriving refugees told the UNHCR that the smuggling rates had halved in recent days. This discount acts as a grim enticement to take extraordinary risks given worsening weather," the agency said.

Despite deteriorating weather, the Greek islands were witnessing a surge with more than 3,000 people arriving daily in the last 48 hours, it said. AFP