Athens, Greece — Nearly 140 migrants have arrived on Greek shores in the past 24 hours, making a dangerous sea journey across the Mediterranean Sea, authorities said Friday. A man who had left North Africa drowned on the southern island of Crete.
Greece, along with Spain and Italy, is a key entry point for people from the Middle East or Africa seeking a better life in the European Union. To reach the Greek coasts, most make the risky journey in flimsy boats from neighboring Turkey or Libya.
Greece’s coast guard said 34 men and three boys were rescued Thursday by a merchant ship passing about 83 nautical miles (95 miles) south of Crete after issuing a distress signal.
A coast guard statement Friday said another man who was on the boat fell into the sea and drowned, according to other survivors and the boat’s captain. All survivors were taken to Crete. They told authorities they had left eastern Libya on Tuesday.
Also on Thursday, authorities found 51 men, eight women and 19 children on a beach near Monemvassia, in southeastern mainland Greece. It was not clear where they had come from, but the area is on a smuggling route from Turkey to Greece or Italy.
In separate incidents on Thursday and Friday, authorities picked up 22 people from an islet off the southeastern island of Symi. The coast guard said they had paid smugglers to transport them from nearby Turkey.
Nearly 16,000 people have arrived in Greece so far this year, mostly by sea. In 2023, arrivals exceeded 48,000.
Spain has received the largest number of immigrants and refugees from the EU so far this year with more than 21,000 arrivals, according to United Nations data.
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