A Frontex vessel takes part in a search and rescue operation in the Aegean Sea earlier this year. [AP]
Greece rescued hundreds of migrants in two separate incidents off its southernmost island of Gavdos in the early hours of Friday, authorities said.
A total of 545 migrants were rescued from a boat that sent a distress signal, in an operation involving three coast guard vessels, three ships from the EU border agency Frontex and three nearby boats. The migrants were to be transferred to the port of Rethymno on Crete, Greece’s largest island.
Earlier, a Frontex vessel located 32 migrants aboard another boat off Gavdos. They were taken to Hania, also on Crete.
All those rescued were reported to be in good health.
Earlier this month, the European Union’s 27 member states approved a major tightening of the bloc’s migration rules, including the controversial introduction of so-called “return hubs” for rejected asylum seekers.