Nearly 500 migrants have reached Greece from Libya in the past 24 hours, with rescue operations intensifying off the southern coast of Crete.
A Frontex border patrol aircraft spotted two boats carrying 87 people roughly 40 kilometres south of Crete on Thursday morning. The Greek coast guard's rescue coordination centre directed operations that brought survivors to the ports of Agia Galini and Kaloi Limenes. A further 200 people were found aboard four vessels in a second set of rescues south of Kaloi Limenes. Combined with 240 migrants rescued in five operations the previous day, the two-day total stands at roughly 500.
Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris stated that more than half a million people in Libya are awaiting passage to Europe. Most depart from the Libyan port of Tobruk. More than 10,000 migrants have arrived on Crete between January and early August, a 20 percent increase over the same period last year.