NNA – The Greek Coast Guard announced on Sunday the rescue of 117 asylum seekers who sailed from Libya, and the arrest of three of them suspected of being smugglers, according to Agence France-Presse.
The Coast Guard said that 84 men, two women and 31 minors were on board a ten-metre-long boat in the southern Gulf of Crete, which is used by fishermen.
He explained in a statement that the asylum seekers said they sailed from Tobruk in eastern Libya on Thursday, heading to Italy.
Along with Italy, Greece faces a large influx of migrants seeking to enter the European Union by crossing the Mediterranean from Turkey or North Africa.
Greece received about 45,000 asylum seekers last year, most of whom arrived on islands near the Turkish coast. This annual toll is the highest in four years, according to the United Nations.
In June, a rickety boat capsized and sank off Pylos on the Peloponnese peninsula, resulting in 82 people drowning, while hundreds were reported missing.
Forty survivors filed a lawsuit against the Greek authorities on charges of failing to take appropriate measures before the boat sank.
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