Rescued migrants stand on a deck of the Swedish Coast Guard ship KBV 001 Poseidon prior to being disembarked at the Messina harbor, Italy, Tuesday, June 9, 2015. AP
ATHENS, Greece — Greek authorities say more than 1,000 people entered the country illegally by sea in a day, bringing the five-month total to about 50,000 — well above the full number of migrant arrivals for all of 2014.
Greece is a close second to Italy in migrant arrivals this year.
The coast guard says 670 people were rescued since early Tuesday in the eastern Aegean Sea and south of Crete, where 263 people were found in one small vessel. Another 361 were found on the island of Lesvos. About nine in 10 arrivals this year came from war-torn parts of the Middle East — principally Syria — and Africa.
More than 100,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean for Europe so far this year, and close to 2,000 died or are missing.