Patrol boats from the Greek coastguard and the European border agency Frontex have picked up more than 650 migrants at sea south of the Greek island of Crete over the past two days, ERTNews reported on Saturday, citing the coastguard.
There were several boats, including one with 545 people on board, ERTNews reported. The people were initially taken to the harbours of small Cretan coastal towns and are to be distributed to refugee camps from there.
The region has recently seen calm weather, the authorities said. This has enabled smugglers to send boats towards Europe.
Crete has recorded almost 18,000 migrant arrivals this year. Last year's total was around 5,000.
The boats mostly set sail from the Libyan port of Tobruk. The just over 300-kilometre crossing is dangerous. Only around two weeks ago, dozens of people died south of Crete when their boat capsized.
