Greece’s biggest island and a major tourist hotspot is facing a huge influx of migrants as they escape North Africa via the Mediterranean. In the first six months of the year, Crete saw 7,000 migrants arrive – more than three times the number of arrivals reported in 2024. Over 1,000 migrants are reportedly staying at a facility on the island, many of whom have been there for over a month.
According to local officials, 1,139 migrants are at the facility located in Agia, Hania, with several having been detained there since August 15, Kathimerini reports. Officials argued that increased crossings in recent weeks were likely due to favourable weather in the waters south of the island. Moreover, two Hellenic Navy frigates equipped to monitor boats departing from Libya left the area last Friday (September 12) after more than two months on station. In July, 2,619 migrants landed on Crete, prompting new migration minister, Thanos Plevris, to call the worrying situation a “state of emergency” and described it as an “invasion”. At the time, he issued a stark warning: “Anyone who comes will be detained and returned”.
Since July 9, a Migration Ministry amendment has suspended asylum applications for migrants arriving from Libya for three months, classifying them as detainees who must be guarded and transported by police to closed centres. However, just a month later, police were unable to provide security or transportation support, leaving 342 migrants confined within the walls of the Agia centre.
According to local officials, following a transfer from Crete to Kavala on the mainland on June 30, police unions protested poor conditions during the 36-hour operation.
“It’s no surprise staff can’t be found for transfers,” one official said.
Between Thursday and Sunday last week (September 11-14), more than 900 migrants were intercepted south of Crete, many landing on Gavdos, the southernmost Greek island, before transfer to Crete. Of the 1,139 people now in Agia, many hail from the war-torn country of Sudan, but are unable to file asylum claims under the current law.
On Monday, the ministries of Civil Protection, Migration, and Shipping discussed transferring detainees to “compliant facilities on mainland Greece,” Migration Ministry sources said. 200 migrants are scheduled for relocation by ferry.
Local officials have shared fears about the crisis’s effect on Crete’s vital tourism industry – the island welcomed over five million international arrivals in 2024 – with many scared that visitors will turn their back on the holiday hotspot.
