The situation in Crete is caught: in recent days thousands of migrants from Libya have come to the Greek holiday island – and thus entered the EU. The Greek government responds.
For days, mayor of Crete said in media interviews that the refugee stick from the North African Libya can no longer be mastered. They could no longer help people, there are just too much. The Greek government has now started bringing migrants from the holiday island to the mainland to relax the situation in Crete.
On Thursday morning to the port of Lavrio on the mainland in the east of the Greek capital Athens, as Greek media reported, with reference to the Coast Guard and the Ministry of Migration. 200 other people were brought to Piraeus in the West, as the newspaper “Bild” wrote.
“Situation is out of hand”
At the moment there are hundreds of migrants in the ports in Crete. About 800 people were taken to a warehouse near the port city of Chania. “The situation is currently out of hand. We also want us to be unable to do anything,” said a mayor in Crete about the “tageschau”. You can no longer house people under decent circumstances.
According to provisional estimates of the authorities, more than 10,000 people have arrived on the island of Crete since 2025. This is an increase of 350 percent compared to the same period last year, as the government announced.
The government works against the wave of migration
The Greek government defends itself against the increased number of refugees: no asylum applications must be processed for at least three months by migrants who come from Libya via the sea to Greece.
Moreover, a kind of prison for migrants must be built in Crete. The Mitsotakis of Greece, Kyriako, explained that they wanted to “make one or two closed facilities” to master the situation on the spot, as the “Tagesschau” reported. “Immigrants who enter our country illegally are arrested and held.”
Libya is part of the Smuggler route
Libya has been known for years as part of the Smuggler route, explained migration researcher Judith Kohlenberger. But: “The country is dangerous for migrants, nobody wants to stay in Libya.” The escape from the sea is becoming increasingly popular because the water cannot be monitored as much as the national borders.
Officers of the Greek coastguard assume that thousands of people are waiting for a chance to come to Europe on the Libyan coast on the Libi coast, as the German news agency has learned from the authorities. According to their own information, people pay smuggling for the 300 -kilometer trip from Tobruk to Crete between 4,000 and 6,000 euros per head, such as Cretan Media Report.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
