EU border chief warns of migrant surge

BRUSSELS -- The European Union's border agency is boosting its operations in the Mediterranean Sea near Greece as increasing numbers of migrants try to enter the EU from Turkey, its chief said Thursday.

"We are worried about the situation in Greece, and that's why we will upgrade our action there and our support to the Greek authorities," Frontex executive director Fabrice Leggeri said in an interview.

More than 10,000 people have been plucked from the central Mediterranean in recent weeks attempting to enter Europe from Libya on overcrowded, unseaworthy boats. The International Organization for Migration estimates nearly 1,830 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean this year, compared to 207 in the same period last year.

"There is a shift from the central Mediterranean to the eastern Mediterranean" as more migrants leave Turkey by sea and land, Leggeri said. "They are moving very quickly, so we have to be flexible."

Earlier Thursday, police in northern Greece said 93 Syrian migrants were released from a locked cargo train carriage after being tricked by smugglers into traveling in the wrong direction.

The number of Syrians reaching Greece has surged in the past year as the civil war in their country continues into a fifth year.