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The Greek coast guard rescued nearly 120 irregular migrants during two operations near Crete earlier on October 20, as arrival numbers are once again increasing. The event followed one day after a total of 12 migrants drowned in two separate instances elsewhere in Greek waters.

During the first rescue, the Greek coast guard was alerted to an overloaded migrant dinghy, which had been spotted by a manned aircraft, part of the EU's external border agency, Frontex.

The incident took place about 100 kilometers south of the Greek island of Crete in the early hours of October 20.

The migrants were rescued and taken to the nearest port of Kali Limenes. According to a report on Tuesday (October 20) in the Greek City Times, there were about 70 migrants on board this first boat.

Dozens of people saved off Crete and Gavdos

In an unrelated rescue a Frontex vessel saved the lives of 47 people near Crete's sister island of Gavdos, taking the total number of rescuees close to 120 people.

The second group were taken to the port of Karave on Gavdos, according to a statement by local authorities.

The two rescues were coordinated by the Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) operated by the Greek coast guard.

Officials are yet to release information on the backgrounds and nationalities of the migrants who were taken to safety. However, many migrants from both South Asia and the Middle East, as well as Sudan tend to use the Libya to Greece route.

File photo: Frontex vessels were heavily involved in both rescues (pictured here in the distance) | Photo: AP

Recent increase in arrivals to Crete

The two rescues come amid ongoing warnings from the Greek government that irregular journeys to Crete and Gavdos from the eastern Libyan coast might increase in frequency.

Crete and Gavdos have witnessed an increase in migrant arrivals since August, with near-daily rescues taking place during some weeks during that period.

The two islands continue to attract thousands of migrants each year, most of whom have hopes of continuing their migratory journeys further into Western Europe to seek out new opportunities.

Elsewhere in Greece, however, arrival numbers have been declining, according to recent reports.

About 1,000 arrive in Crete in October alone

Over recent days, a total of 168 migrants managed to reach Crete on October 19 in three small boats, all of which had departed from Libya.

Over the past weekend, more than 500 people arrived on Crete in numerous boats, raising worries about capacities to host and process hundreds of people.

This was preceded by multiple rescues in previous weeks, bringing the total tally of new migrant arrivals in October to date to about 1,000.

According to UNHCR data, last updated on October 11, more than 18,000 migrants (out of the more than 25,000 migrants who have arrived in Greece via sea routes since the beginning of the year) landed on Crete or Gavdos.

File Photo: Hundreds of migrants have arrived on Crete since the beginning of October, usually involving the help of the coast guard to save their lives | Source: Hellenic Coast Guard

During one of the recent arrivals, a Sudanese migrant went missing off Crete from a boat with 42 migrants on board. The rest of the group managed to reach the island.

A Coast Guard statement said that the incident is believed to have taken place only about 10 — 15 kilometers south of Crete.

Giorgos Sfakianakis, the head of the coast guard staff union for eastern Crete, meanwhile reissued a warning that around a million migrants along the northern and eastern Libyan coasts may be waiting to reach European shores.

Various Greek politicians have also referred to similar large numbers — often as a prelude to pushing through increasingly stricter measures against irregular migrants and the smugglers who enable them.

That number has not been independently verified. However, according to the IOM's Displacement Tracking Index (DTM) in May and June this year, it was estimated that there were around 950,000 migrants in Libya.

Further deaths at sea

Reports of the new arrivals come one day after twelve irregular migrants, including a baby, died in the Aegean Sea.

The coast guard managed to pick up 22 survivors, as a search-and-rescue mission continues off the island of Samos more than 24 hours after the incident.

At the height of the so-called "refugee crisis" of 2015 and 2016, at least 800,000 people managed to land on Greek shores, with most of the arrivals fleeing the civil war in Syria, which kept raging until 2024 when the fall of former dictator Bashar al-Assad paved the way for an interim government.