20 children among 44 killed in three boat sinkings off Greece.

Greek and Turkish coastguards have recovered the bodies of 44 asylum seekers, including 20 children, whose boats ran into trouble en route to Greece, officials say.

Two accidents in the early hours off the Greek Aegean islands of Farmakonisi and Kalolimnos left 41 people dead, the Greek coastguard said.

Turkey's Dogan news agency meanwhile reported that the Turkish coastguard had found the bodies of three children after their boat sank off the beach resort of Didim.

Earlier, the Greek coastguard said 48 survivors made it to shore of Farmakonisi, which lies west of Turkey in the Aegean Sea, after their boat struck rocks early on Friday (local time).

Twenty-six survivors were reported from another boat that capsized off the tiny nearby island of Kalolimnos.

The survivors said dozens of people had been on board.

In a special report, ABC correspondents Mary Gearin, Barbara Miller and Sophie McNeill follow some asylum seekers on their long path through Europe.

People fleeing war and misery in the Middle East and elsewhere, many of them Syrian refugees, are still arriving from Turkey in flimsy boats in their thousands every day, despite the dangers and the harsh winter weather.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates that some 31,000 people have reached Greece by sea so far this year, hoping to start new lives in Germany, Sweden and elsewhere in the European Union.

The IOM reported 77 people died trying to cross the Mediterranean between January 1 and January 17.

On Thursday, at least 12 asylum seekers drowned off the Turkish coast as their boat tried to reach Greece. The Turkish coastguard rescued 28 people.