The number of irregular migrants arriving on the island of Crete has seen a sharp decline since the government suspended asylum applications in July, Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris told lawmakers on Wednesday.

Speaking at the start of a parliamentary debate on a new bill overhauling return procedures for third-country nationals, Plevris said that in the first half of 2025, 10,000 people entered Crete illegally from Libya. Between July 1 and July 9, just before the asylum suspension took effect, 2,642 people arrived. From July 10 until the end of the month, the figure fell to 913, while fewer than 500 were recorded in the first 27 days of August.

“In all of August so far, the same number of irregular migrants arrived illegally as on a single day in July,” Plevris said. “In 45 days, the number of irregular arrivals from Libya was half of those who came during just the first week of July.”

The minister said that since the amendment was enacted on July 9, a total of 808 voluntary and forced returns had been carried out, with another 250 planned by the end of August. Five charter flights to Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt are scheduled in the first 10 days of September, he added.

Plevris said the progress was made possible through diplomatic talks and provisions in the new bill imposing stricter penalties on migrants who remain in Greece without legal status.

The minister stressed that the measures primarily target irregular migrants without a refugee profile who entered illegally, while separate efforts are underway for those whose asylum claims have been rejected.

He credited the 80% reduction in arrivals on Crete both to the asylum suspension and to diplomatic initiatives by Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis.