ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greek authorities said Thursday they had found 66 migrants in two locations on the southern Greek island of Crete who had sailed to the island from the Libyan coast in northern Africa. , a route increasingly used by smuggling rings.
The coast guard said the migrants – 31 people from Bangladesh, 22 from Egypt and 13 from Sudan – included five young children and three women. They were found ashore in two different areas on the southern coast of Crete early Wednesday morning.
They had all arrived on the same wooden boat overnight and split into two groups, the coast guard said. Three of the Egyptians, aged 23, 26 and 31, were arrested on smuggling charges after other passengers identified them as being in control of the boat.
Trusted news and daily excitement, right in your inbox
See for yourself – The Yodel is the source for daily news, entertainment and feel good stories.
The passengers told authorities they had sailed from Libya in the early hours of Tuesday and had paid about $2,000 each to go to Greece, the coast guard said.
Greece has been one of the favorite routes into the European Union for decades for people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Arrivals via nearby Turkey and the Libyan coast have increased in the past year. In 2024, Greece recorded more than 60,000 arrivals – mostly by sea – compared to just over 48,000 the year before.
With authorities closely monitoring the eastern sea border with neighboring Turkey to prevent migrant boats from reaching nearby Greek islands, smugglers are likely to ' is increasingly choosing the Mediterranean Sea which is much longer and more dangerous crossing from the coast of northern Africa to the southern part of Greece.
The 66 reported Thursday were in addition to dozens more that the coast guard said had arrived between Monday and Wednesday in Crete and the small island of Gavdos, Greece's southernmost point.
Of those, 29 people – 10 from Sudan, 10 from Pakistan, five from Bangladesh and four from Egypt – were picked up by a Philippine-flagged tanker that was passing dozens of miles south of Gavdos on Wednesday.
Another 45 people from Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sudan were rescued from the same general area by a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship on Tuesday. The Coast Guard said on Thursday that two of the Egyptians on board were arrested as suspected migrant smugglers.
