ATHENS: The Greek coast guard rescued 131 would-be migrants off the island of Crete on Saturday, bringing the number of people pulled from the sea in the area over the past five days to 840, a police spokesperson said.

The migrants were rescued on Saturday morning from a fishing boat about 14 nautical miles south of Gavdos, a small island south of Crete. All were taken safely to Gavdos. Their nationalities were not immediately disclosed.

The eastern Mediterranean route remains deadly, with many migrants attempting the risky sea crossing from Libya to Crete. Earlier this month, 17 people — mostly Sudanese or Egyptian — were found dead after their boat sank off Crete, while 15 others were reported missing. Only two people survived.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 16,770 migrants have arrived in Crete since the beginning of the year.

Spanish family missing after tourist boat sank in Indonesian seas

In July, Greece’s conservative government suspended the processing of asylum applications for three months, particularly for migrants arriving from Libya, calling the measure “absolutely necessary”.

Tourist boat sinks

Separately, a Spanish family of four remained missing Saturday after a tourist boat sank in rough seas in Indonesia, the state news agency Antara reported.

The vessel, which was carrying 11 people, sank Friday night in the Padar Island Strait near the popular tourist destination of Labuan Bajo. Seven people — including two Spanish tourists, four crew members and a tour guide — were rescued.

Search efforts for the missing family continued Saturday, although Padar Island was closed to tourists because of extreme weather conditions. The Labuan Bajo port authority said the sinking was caused by high waves of up to ten feet.

“This made it difficult for us to carry out the initial search,” port authority chief Stephanus Risdiyanto told Antara.

Video released by Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency showed emergency workers in blue uniforms helping survivors — some barefoot — from an inflatable orange boat onto shore. Other footage showed people wearing life jackets aboard a rescue vessel, while another boat churned through rough seas in the darkness.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2025