More than one-hundred-and-fifty Kurdish refugees have been stranded on an uninhabited Greek islet in the Aegean Sea.

They were apparently attempting to enter Greece illegally on board a Syrian trawler when the vessel ran into difficulties.

Abandoning ship, the refugees, including more than sixty children, swam ashore to the islet off the island of Kassos.There they raised a Kurdish flag and demanded political asylum.

Reports say the refugees also displayed pictures of the Kurdish rebel leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

He was detained in Italy two weeks ago and has become the centre of a European political row over attempts to bring him to trial.