One hundred refugees and migrants rescued in the Aegean

One hundred refugees and migrants were rescued by the Greek coast guard and the European Union’s border  agency Frontex in the eastern Aegean at dawn on Sunday. 

The largest rescue operation took place off the coast of Lesvos, where a Frontex boat located a plastic dinghy with 56 people onboard. The refugees were transported to the port of Mytilene, where the coast guard opened an investigation.

Another 44 people were located and rescued by the Greek coast guard east of Agathonisi, an islet a few miles off the Turkish coast. Those onboard were transferred to the port of Pythagorio, in Samos.

No information was available on the nationalities or ages of those rescued.

Although arrivals of refugees and migrants from Turkey remain limited due to the country's deal with the EU to stem flows, numbers have spiked in recent weeks and reception centers on the islands of Lesvos, Chios and Samos remain cramped.