The bodies of three minors have been recovered by Greek officials as 19 migrants are rescued after their dinghy hit rocks near Turkey.

The coastguard said three patrol vessels were looking for other possible survivors on the island of Chios in the Aegean Sea.

Greece has been a favoured gateway to the European Union for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia since 2015.

The number of migrants arriving into Greece had dropped until last year when there was 41,561 arrivals by sea recorded.

Around 10,163 migrants reached Greece by sea so far this year.

Last month, at least 60 migrants died after a rubber dinghy ran into trouble in the Mediterranean Sea.

Survivors, who were picked up by the Ocean Viking - a vessel operated by the humanitarian group SOS Méditerranée - had set off from Zawiya on the Libyan coast several days before being rescued.

The migrants were left without food and water when the engine of the dinghy broke down.

The survivors said that the victims included women and at least one child and they are believed to have died from dehydration and hunger.

Greece has been a surge in illegal migration as numbers swell by more than 400 per cent in the last month alone.

Since the start of the year, Greece’s southernmost islands of Crete and Gavdos have been hardest hit with daily flows of Egyptians landing on their shores.

In March, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis asked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to finalise a $8.06 billion aid package to shore up the Egyptian economy and help stem the tide of illegal immigration.

The future of the EU's borders hangs in the balance today, as MEPs are voting on a series of laws that form a new migration pact.

The Migration and Asylum Pact aim to overhaul the EU's migration and border rules. But there’s a chance MEPs vote down the pact today, which could kill the plans for years to come.

The plans propose the detention of migrants for up to six months in some cases, as well as the detention of unaccompanied minors deemed to be a security risk.

They also limit the number of people coming into the EU, as well as coming to an agreement designed to share the cost of hosting migrants and refugees.