Greece says 66 migrants arrive on southern island of Crete after sailing from the Libyan coast

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities said Thursday they had found 66 migrants in two locations on the southern Greek island of Crete who had sailed to the island from the Libyan coast in north Africa, a route increasingly used by smuggling rings.

The coast guard said the migrants — 31 people from Bangladesh, 22 from Egypt and 13 from Sudan — included five minors and three women. They were found on land in two separate areas on the southern coast of Crete early Wednesday morning.

All had arrived on the same wooden boat overnight and had split into two groups, the coast guard said. Three of the Egyptians, aged 23, 26 and 31, were arrested on charges of smuggling after other passengers identified them as having been in control of the boat.

The passengers told authorities they had set sail from Libya in the early hours of Tuesday and had each paid about $2,000 for passage to Greece, the coast guard said.

Greece has been on one of the preferred routes into the European Union for decades for people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Arrivals via neighboring Turkey and the Libyan coast have spiked over the past year. In 2024, Greece recorded more than 60,000 arrivals — the vast majority by sea — compared to just over 48,000 the previous year.

With authorities closely patrolling the eastern sea border with neighboring Turkey to prevent migrant boats reaching nearby Greek islands, smugglers appear to be increasingly opting for the much longer and riskier Mediterranean Sea crossing from the north African coast to the southern tip of Greece.

The 66 reported on Thursday were in addition to dozens more the coast guard said had arrived between Monday and Wednesday on Crete and the tiny island of Gavdos, Greece’s southernmost point.

Of those, 29 people – 10 from Sudan, 10 from Pakistan, five from Bangladesh and four from Egypt – had been picked up by a passing Philippines-flagged tanker ship dozens of miles south of Gavdos on Wednesday.

Another 45 people from Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sudan had been rescued from the same general area by a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship on Tuesday. The coast guard said Thursday that two of the Egyptians on board had been arrested as suspected migrant smugglers.