Continuing and ever-greater numbers of irregular migrants landing on the large island of Crete and the small isle of Gavdos or being ferried to Greek territory by coast guard units responding to migrant boats in the eastern Mediterranean is reportedly taking on crisis dimensions.
On Sunday alone, nearly 1,000 people arrived via landings or by being picked up by the Greek coast guard south of Crete, with the so-called “Libya route” for irregular migration towards the European Union increasingly popular with the migrant smuggler.
The burgeoning crisis is sending the new Greek minister for migration and asylum, Thanos Plevris, to Libya on Tuesday. The latter will accompany EU Commissioner Internal Affairs & Migration Magnus Brunner. The relevant ministers of Italy and Malta, respectively, will also accompany the EU Commissioner, with the intent being to find a diplomatic solution to stopping migrant smugglers from using Libya as a springboard to ferry irregular migrants to EU territory.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has already instructed the Hellenic Navy to begin patrols, as of late June, of the international waters off eastern Libya in order to dissuade migrant smugglers from making sail for Crete. Greek FM George Gerapetritis also visited the large North African country over the weekend for talks with officials of the eastern part of the country.
According to sources quoted by Greece’s national news agency on Monday, Plevris is heading to Libya seeking substantive cooperation with the authorities there, while clarifying that the relevant ministry does not have any participation or contribution during the detainment and transportation process for undocumented third-country nationals. Rather, the migration and asylum ministry’s jurisdiction begins when a third country national is transferred to a “hotspot” or to a closed reception centers.
On Monday, another 489 were located and picked up by coast guard and Frontex units off migrant boats in two separate operations south of Crete and Gavdos. Press reports have some of the irregular migrants claiming they paid 5,000 euros each for the haphazard journey from Libya across the central Mediterranean to Crete, while at least another 5,000 were waiting to make the same trip in a bid to reach Europe as would-be asylum seekers or for permanent migration.
In some cases, migrant smugglers themselves contact national or European authorities to request a rescue once in an EU member-state’s Search and Rescue Region (SRR).
Speaking on Greek national television (ERT) on Monday, Chania Deputy Mayor Eleni Zervoudaki said temporary shelters are overwhelmed by the sheer number of third country nationals that have arrived via the “Libya route”.
The ominous people-trafficking phenomenon now targeting Crete has gradually intensified since September 2023, when the first flows began. From an average of 120 arrivals per month, the numbers increased rapidly, reaching 528 in February 2024. That year ended with an average of 400 arrivals per month and a total of 4,820 arrivals.
This escalation continued in 2025, with arrivals already reaching 7,124 by June 30, according to coast guard data. Last month, in particular, set a new record with 2,564 arrivals in one month. As the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently noted in a letter to the 27 member-states at the end of June, “93% of illegal crossings to the European Union now come from Libya”.
