The Coastal and Border Control Unit of the Republican National Guard (GNR) rescued 24 migrants, including 11 children and a pregnant woman, during a patrol operation in the Aegean Sea. This was part of the ‘Joint Operation Greece 2025’, coordinated by Frontex – the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, on July 19.
“The rescue occurred at around 11:13 a.m. when the crew of the coast patrol vessel ‘Draco’ detected a small inflatable boat adrift southeast of the Greek island of Agathonisi,” detailed the security force in a statement released on Wednesday.
The statement added that onboard were “eight men and five women, aged between 18 and 45, as well as 11 children, aged between 5 and 15,” in addition to a pregnant woman.
“The migrants were safely rescued and underwent health assessments. Following the completion of screening procedures, they were transported to the island of Samos, where they were placed under the responsibility of the Greek authorities,” it stated.
The GNR stated that this rescue is part of their mission “within the framework of the security and surveillance of the European Union’s external borders, reinforcing international cooperation and actively contributing to the safeguarding of human lives at sea.”
Therefore, the entity assured that it “will remain committed to protecting the maritime border, controlling migratory flows, and combating cross-border crime, with professionalism and humanity.”
According to the Greek port police, 7,300 migrants have arrived in Crete and the island of Gavdos since the beginning of the year, compared to 4,935 throughout 2024.
Around 520 migrants adrift on a boat south of Crete were rescued today, bringing the total of irregular arrivals on the Greek island to over 1,600 since Sunday, Greek authorities declared.
Since the beginning of June alone, 2,550 arrivals have been recorded. While islands in the northeastern Aegean Sea, such as Lesbos, have reception camps, Crete and Gavdos do not.
The Mayor of Gavdos, Lilian Stefanakis, has repeatedly called on the government to take action to address this situation.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis raised this issue with his European partners at the last European Union (EU) summit in Brussels at the end of June.
The conservative head of government also announced in June the deployment of two Greek warships outside Libyan territorial waters to “control the flow of illegal migrants,” according to government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis.
