Greece's coast guard said it has picked up hundreds of people from the sea near eastern Aegean islands as they attempted to reach Greece clandestinely from the nearby Turkish coast, ABC News reported.

The coast guard said on Wednesday it rescued 773 people in 19 separate search and rescue operations from Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning off the coasts of the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Rhodes. The figures do not include the hundreds more who manage to reach the islands themselves, usually in overcrowded inflatable dinghies or wooden boats.

More than 250,000 people have reached Greece clandestinely so far this year, the vast majority of them Syrians or Afghans fleeing conflict at home. Few, if any, want to remain in financially strapped Greece, with most heading north overland through the Balkans to more prosperous European countries such as Germany and Sweden.

Source: MENA