The Greek coast guard discovered the group aboard a wooden motorboat off the northwestern coast of the Greek island Crete, after they had received a distress call on Monday from a boat, officials said on Tuesday. The group was reportedly brought to Crete.

Among the 30 people on the boat were nine minors and four women, according to coast guards. There was no information released about their nationality.

More migrant boats between Turkey and Italy

There has been an increase in reports of migrant boats running into distress in the Mediterranean, south of Greece, in recent weeks. It appears that migrants and refugees are increasingly trying to reach Europe from Turkey by taking the long route across the Mediterranean to Italy, instead of crossing to the Greek islands located near the Turkish coast, such as Lesbos and Chios. This is likely due to Greece increasing patrols off the Turkish coast, and repeated reports of pushbacks to Turkey -- Greek coast guards have repeatedly been accused of illegally forcing people to get back on unsafe boats and return to Turkey, without giving them the chance to ask for asylum.

On Friday, 69 people were rescued from a drifting sailboat that had sent out a distress signal, according to the coast guard. The boat was reportedly located roughly 50 kilometers off Greece in the Ionian Sea -- the sea between the western Greece and southern Italy. The boat had left Turkey on Monday that week, setting sail for Italy near Izmir, officials said. The 69 people were brought to the southwestern Greek city of Kalamata. Among them 61 were from Iran, two from Afghanistan and six from Turkey, according to coast guards. The six Turks were reportedly arrested on suspicion of human smuggling. The rescue was carried out by coast guards and the crew of a commercial vessel, according to coast guard officials.

In Mid-August, more than 200 people arrived on the island of Kythera in southern Greece, after setting sail on three sailboats from Turkey with hopes of reaching Italy.

With AP