202 Migrants Rescued Off Greece, Most From Bangladesh

Greek authorities have rescued 202 migrants from several boats off the southern island of Crete within 48 hours, with most of those rescued coming from Bangladesh and Sudan.

The migrants had reportedly departed from the Libyan coast in several boats bound for Greece.

On Thursday morning, a Frontex aircraft spotted a boat southeast of Ierapetra. A coast guard patrol vessel and a fishing boat later rescued 40 migrants and took them to the port of Ierapetra for registration and identity checks.

Earlier, 112 migrants had been rescued from two other boats.

The first boat was carrying 56 people, including 31 Sudanese and 25 Bangladeshis. The second was carrying another 56 people, including 47 Bangladeshis and nine Egyptians.

All those rescued were taken to a temporary shelter at the port of Heraklion as authorities dealt with a growing number of migrant arrivals on Crete.

In a separate incident, Greek authorities arrested a 16-year-old South Sudanese teenager suspected of involvement in the smuggling of 50 migrants rescued in an earlier operation about 28.5 nautical miles southwest of Ierapetra.

According to information provided by the migrants, the teenager had been operating the boat during a journey from Tobruk in Libya to Greece.

The migrants said they had each paid between $1,500 and $2,000 for the journey.