At least 22 migrants have died off the southern coast of Greece after spending six days adrift in a small rubber boat, authorities confirmed on Saturday, according to Al Jazeera News. Survivors told officials that smugglers ordered the bodies of those who perished to be thrown into the sea.
The two surviving passengers, both in critical condition, were rescued by the Greek coastguard and taken to a hospital in Heraklion on the island of Crete.
According to their testimony, the boat had departed from Tobruk, a port city in eastern Libya, on March 21 with dozens of people aboard, bound for Greece, a gateway to the European Union for thousands seeking safety and opportunity. Their journey soon turned desperate. The migrants reportedly lost their bearings and spent nearly a week at sea without food or water. “The bodies were thrown into the sea on the orders of one of the smugglers,” the Greek coastguard said in a statement.
Authorities have since arrested two men from South Sudan, aged 19 and 22, suspected of being the smugglers responsible for the voyage.
Rescue efforts later retrieved 26 survivors, including a woman and a child, with the help of a vessel operated by Frontex, the European Union’s border agency.
Each year, thousands of migrants attempt the perilous Mediterranean crossing from Libya, which has become a main route for people fleeing war and poverty since the collapse of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011.
The UN refugee agency reported that more than 16,700 asylum seekers reached Crete in 2025, while at least 107 either died or went missing in Greek waters that same year. Despite stricter border policies and temporary suspension of asylum processing in Greece, many continue to risk their lives at sea—driven by hope, and often, desperation.
