Four small boats carrying a total 155 undocumented migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea from north Africa to the southern island of Crete Wednesday, authorities said, while no departures from Turkey to the Aegean Sea islands were reported.
The Coast Guard said 72 men, two women and 12 children were taken off two boats that ran into trouble in separate incidents south of Crete, while another 58 men, eight women and three children were found on beaches on Crete and the nearby island of Gavdos.
More than 250 more people reached Crete on Monday and Tuesday.
The island has become the main gateway for people from the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Africa into European Union member Greece, from where they hope to move deeper into the continent’s prosperous heartland in search of a better life.
Out of the nearly 25,000 people who have entered the country so far this year – by land from Turkey and by sea from Libya and Turkey – according to United Nations data, at least 13,000 arrived on Crete, forcing the conservative government to build two temporary reception camps on the island.
