Doha: The Greek Coast Guard announced on Monday that seven irregular migrants had been rescued and the bodies of four others recovered after their boat sank off the island of Lesbos. A Coast Guard official said that there was no immediate information on whether more passengers were aboard the vessel.

According to Qatar News Agency, this marks the second such incident involving migrant deaths off Lesbos this month. Greece was at the forefront of Europe's migration crisis in 2015 and 2016, when more than one million people from the Middle East and Africa crossed into Europe through its islands. In recent years, however, the country has tightened its border controls and migration policies in an effort to curb irregular crossings.