Greece's coast guard says its patrol vessels picked up nearly 500 migrants in 11 search and rescue missions over the past 24 hours in the eastern Aegean Sea. The people, whose nationalities were not immediately clear, were found in small boats near the islands of Lesbos - which accounts for nearly one in two migrant arrivals in Greece - Samos, Kos and the islet of Agathonissi.

More than 15,000 refugees and migrants are stranded on Lesbos, awaiting screening before they can board a ferry to the Greek mainland - from where they head north through Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary to seek asylum in more prosperous European countries.

A ferry carrying some 2,500 migrants from Lesbos is due in Athens later today.