Greece's Gavdos island a new entry point as over 400 asylum seekers land
Over 400 asylum seekers have landed at the small island of Gavdos near Crete, a new entry point increasingly used by migrant smugglers in past months, the Greek coastguard said on Friday.
The asylum seekers arrived in separate groups over the last 24 hours, with the largest including over 350 people off Gavdos, the coastguard told AFP.
The migrants' fishing boat was detected by a European Union (EU) border agency Frontex vessel on Thursday.
A Greek coastguard vessel and four nearby cargo ships participated in the rescue operation.
The asylum seekers are to be transferred to a temporary reception centre in Paleochora in Crete for registration and identification.
On Thursday morning, another group of about 40 migrants was spotted on a coast of Gavdos by the coastguard.
They were also transferred to the camp in Crete, according to an official statement.
No details have been released so far regarding the migrants' nationalities.
Located at the external borders of the EU in the southeastern Mediterranean, Greece is one of the main gateways to Europe for people fleeing war and poverty in Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.
According to UN figures, over 14 000 people have arrived by sea this year, compared to over 54 000 in 2024.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
2 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Superyacht Is Pulled From Seabed Ten Months After Sinking That Killed Lynch
ROME (AP) — A British-flagged luxury superyacht that sank off Sicily last year, killing U.K. tech magnate Mike Lynch and six others, partially resurfaced Saturday as salvage recovery crews finalized the complex operation to bring it ashore for further investigation. The white top and blue hull of the 56-meter (184-foot) Bayesian was visible on the surface but was not clear of the sea yet in a holding area of a yellow floating crane barge.
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
Superyacht is pulled from the seabed 10 months after sinking off Sicily
ROME — A British-flagged luxury superyacht that sank off Sicily last year , killing U.K. tech magnate Mike Lynch and six others, partially resurfaced Saturday as salvage recovery crews finalized the complex operation to bring it ashore for further investigation. The white top and blue hull of the 56-meter (184-foot) Bayesian was visible on the surface but was not clear of the sea yet in a holding area of a yellow floating crane barge.
New York Times
17 hours ago
- New York Times
Bayesian Superyacht Is Raised From Bottom of Mediterranean
The hull of the Bayesian superyacht breached the surface of the Mediterranean Sea on Friday as cranes pulled it up from the seabed off Sicily, where it had lain since it sank last August, killing seven people. As a portion of the dark-blue hull of the yacht, which belonged to the British tech mogul Michael Lynch, was raised from the waters, it carried with it the hope of providing answers to a mysterious tragedy. Italian investigators are still trying to find out what caused the sinking of the $40 million superyacht — which its makers had deemed 'unsinkable' — during a storm 10 months ago, while a converted tugboat anchored in the same cove weathered the gale just fine. The mystery has compounded the grief of the family and friends of the seven people who perished: Mr. Lynch; his teenage daughter, Hannah; four of Mr. Lynch's friends, including a prominent lawyer and his wife; and the sailboat's cook. Theories and accusations have proliferated since the sinking. The company that owns the yacht's builder accused the crew of making a chain of fatal errors. A preliminary investigation by British maritime authorities found that the boat had likely been knocked over by an intense gust of wind and noted that the Bayesian's signature feature, a gigantic single mast that was one of the tallest in the world, increased the vulnerability of the boat to capsizing in high winds. The New York Times published findings similar to those of the British authorities last year in its investigation of the accident. The hull, inside which six of the seven bodies of the victims were previously found, the deck and some of the boat's vents and railings became visible for a few hours for the first time in months on Friday. Steel straps attached to maritime cranes pulled it from more than 50 yards below the surface of the sea, where it had lain on its starboard side. TMC Marine, the company organizing the recovery of the vessel, said that the boat's aluminum mast had been removed on Tuesday. On Saturday, the boat is set to be fully brought to the surface and out of the water, with seawater pumped out of the hull, TMC Marine said in a statement. The authorities had established a strict security perimeter in the air and sea around the work site during the vessel's recovery, TMC Marine said.
