Rescue of 50-day-old migrant baby on tiny Greek island captures hearts of country

The dramatic rescue of a migrant baby on a tiny island in Greece has captured the hearts of many in the country.

Local media report a 50-day-old baby was saved by residents who live on the island of Tilos last Saturday. The family had been stranded on a beach for three days.

The tiny island has a population of less than one thousand and the group, including children and pregnant women, were abandoned in a rocky area by smugglers.

According to reports the refugees were left on the shores and were difficult to reach by land.

The mayor of the island, Maria Kamma, took to Facebook to share the dramatic rescue, adding: “The community of Tilos has once again risen to the occasion, lending a shoulder to the refugees. The locals are trying to cope in the best way possible with the “migrant crisis” in their homeland and to help the suffering, the wounded and the distressed people.”

“The baby’s parents, stumped by the harsh living conditions on the island, for lack of anything better, decided to feed their baby milk diluted in sea water. Fortunately, the baby was saved .”

The island of Tilos.

Authorities say the baby was rescued by sea by an off-duty coastguard and others were rescued by helicopter.

Videos of the rescue have gone viral on social media in Greece, they show the baby being rescued from the beach in a tiny inflatable boat.

It comes as authorities on the southern Greek island of Crete detained 76 migrants early on Tuesday after they arrived on three boats, as smugglers seek new routes in the region to evade coast guard patrols.

The migrants from Syria , Egypt, Sudan and Bangladesh included six children and arrived before dawn on the tiny island of Gavdos, near Crete’s southern coast, local officials said.

Usually, such migrants are detained for identification and processing, after which they can apply for asylum while waiting in refugee camps, with cases accessed on an individual basis.

According to data updated by the United Nations refugee agency, more than 28,000 migrants have arrived illegally in Greece this year.

Smugglers typically target Greek islands close to Turkey’s coastline, but in recent months they have increasingly chosen longer routes to Crete and islands in the central Aegean Sea , where coast guard patrols are more relaxed.

The Greek government is considering setting up state-funded processing centers on Crete to assist local authorities. Currently, migrants are housed in sports facilities, disused buildings, and schools during the summer months.

The Aegean route remains active, and on Tuesday Greece‘s coast guard said it had picked up a total 70 people over the past 24 hours in three separate incidents off the country’s eastern islands. All made the short crossing from Turkey in small boats. They were taken to migrant reception centers on Samos, Leros and Chios.

Greece has received backlash from human rights organizations over the treatment of migrants trying to reach its shores. In June, it denied a BBC report that accused its coast guard of brutal practices resulting in dozens of deaths

Addition reporting by AP.