Greek coastguard were sent to multiple incidents (Image: Getty)
Twenty-one people have been found dead in the sea off the coast of Crete after a boat carrying migrants was spotted. The Greek coastguard said it rescued 18 people and recovered 12 bodies after the migrant boat was spotted by a container ship early on Monday. Four survivors, including a toddler, were taken to shore, where one person later died in hospital. The others were taken to a migrant facility in Crete. Authorities said the vessel may have been at sea for days and struggled to reach the shore due to strong winds. A coastguard official told Reuters: “We found them shivering from the cold.”
Separately, the Greek coastguard rescued 28 migrants from Sudan and recovered eight bodies from a boat near the same island on Saturday evening, as two people remain missing. Two other boats – one carrying 47 people and another with 40 – were also spotted south of Crete.
EU border agency Frontex used an aircraft and an unmanned drone to find the boats before taking survivors to a nearby port town. In total, 187 people were rescued across three separate incidents off the coast of Greece on Monday.
UN figures show that over 37,000 migrants have arrived in Greece so far this year – surpassing the number for the whole of 2025. Frontex reported about 31,800 irregular border crossings on the eastern Mediterranean route in the first three quarters of 2026, making it the busiest route into the area.
It is also a 15% drop compared with the same period last year, while irregular border crossings into the EU also fell by almost a third overall. The Greek government has been tackling the influx, including by opening a temporary housing complex near Crete’s capital, Heraklion.
Legislation was passed in June this year to create new or use existing “return hubs” outside the EU to speed up deportations of failed asylum seekers. It’s currently consulting with certain African nations to finalise agreements for deportations.
Migrants were taken to Kaloi Limenes. (Image: Getty)
Fines and penalties for illegal entry and unauthorised stays have been increased, and harsh sentences have been imposed on people accused of facilitating the entry, transit, or stay of migrants.
Greece has also called for Frontex to be deployed, to close reception facilities, and to temporarily freeze asylum processing during sudden influxes, which are particularly affecting Crete.