Four migrant children died when their boat capsised off the Greek island of Lesbos -- called Midilli in Turkish -- while 23 people were rescued in separate incidents, the coastguard said.

The four dead migrants included an 8-year-old boy and three girls aged 14, 8, and 11 months.

The survivors were transferred to Mytilene, the main city on the isle, which lies along a passage route for migrants.

No details were given about the nationalities or the condition of those rescued.

For decades Greece has been one of the preferred entry points into the European Union for people fleeing conflict or poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia and hoping for a better life in Europe.

More than 14,000 people have reached Greece by land and sea so far this year, according to United Nations figures. That’s about a tenth of the total successful Mediterranean crossings, most of which — about 104,000 — were to Italy. Arrivals in Greece for the whole of 2022 totalled 19,000.

In June, a battered fishing trawler heading from Libya to Italy with an estimated 500-750 people on board sank in international waters off southwestern Greece. Only 104 survivors were found, and Greek authorities were heavily criticized for failing to evacuate the vessel in time.

The government has attributed the rise in migrant crossings since then to better summer weather and smugglers taking advantage of an increase in Aegean small-boat traffic during the tourist season.

After nearly a million people entered Greece at the height of Europe’s 2015 migration crisis, the vast majority hoping to move north to wealthier European countries, Greece increased patrols along the sea and land border with Türkiye to halt arrivals.

Human rights groups and migrants denounced the government for carrying out illegal summary deportations of people arriving in the country without allowing them to apply for asylum, an accusation the government strongly denied.