79 migrants rescued off Crete: coastguard

Greek coastguards said they rescued 79 migrants from boats near Crete on Tuesday, the latest of hundreds pulled from the sea off the southern Mediterranean island in recent days.

A press officer for the force said an EU drone spotted two boats carrying the migrants near the port of Kali Limenes in southern Crete.

They included at least two women and two minors and migrants from Bangladesh and war-torn Sudan, the officer said.

The figure of 79 followed an earlier number of 85 cited by Greece's ANA news agency.

ANA also reported that the overall number of migrants arriving in Greece had fallen in recent months.

Crete and the nearby island of Gavdos, about 320 kilometres (200 miles) from the Libyan coast, have become the main point of entry for asylum seekers in Greece.

ANA on Tuesday cited figures from the immigration ministry indicating that migrant arrivals in Greece fell from about 61,000 in the year to August 2025 to 42,000 in the following 12 months -- a decline of around 31 percent.

Authorities in Europe have tightened their immigration rules over recent years as far-right, anti-immigrant parties have won increasing support.

The European Union has co-operated with transit countries such as Libya to reduce the flow of irregular migrants.

Greece's immigration minister Thanos Plevris has pushed a strict policy on arrivals.

Greece has been in discussions with Germany and several other EU countries on setting up "return hubs" outside the bloc for processing migrants' claims.