Istanbul: Coastguards have confirmed 27 migrants, 11 of them children, drowned off Turkey's Aegean coast as they tried to reach the Greek islands.

The news broke as Greece confirmed it would soon have refugee processing centres open, which locals fear will only attract more migrants to their coast.

Rescue workers with the bodies of migrants who drowned off the coast of Turkey on Monday. Credit:Ayhan Avci

Four migrants were rescued on Monday and a search operation was underway for nine remaining passengers.

One migrant was rescued by a fisherman and three more were rescued by the coastguard, which said it had deployed boats and helicopters to search for more passengers.