More than a hundred migrants were picked up off small boats in the sea south of Crete after embarking on the journey to the Greek island from north Africa, authorities said Wednesday.
Well over half the nearly 15,000 migrants to have reached Greece so far this year have made landfall on Crete after crossing from eastern Libya, according to United Nations figures.
The Coast Guard said that three small boats were located off the southern Cretan port of Kali Limenes by early afternoon Wednesday and 112 people found on them were being transported to the island. Another 33 people were picked up in the area Tuesday.
So far, well over 8,000 people from the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Africa have reached Crete from Libya after paying smuggling gangs for the passage. In many cases, the small boats they use are piloted by teenagers from Sudan – with a 13-year-old boy identified in one case earlier this month.
Efforts to talk officials in eastern Libya into stopping the flows have so far proved fruitless. The Greek government has built a temporary detention center for newly-arrived migrants near Hania, and a second is planned on the outskirts of Iraklio, despite protests from local residents. Government officials have said they will be kept in the camps for 2-3 days to be registered and then moved to facilities on the mainland.
