The situation in Crete is now suffocating compared to migratory flows that have increased with geometric progress lately. It is noteworthy that yesterday, Sunday, there was a number of records of refugees/migrants from the Libyan coast, with 959 people disembarking in one day.

Migration pressure from Libya to Crete is not a new phenomenon but is gradually exacerbated since September 2023, when the first flows began to appear. From an average of 120 arrivals per month, the numbers increased rapidly, reaching 528 in February 2024. The year ended with an average of 400 arrivals per month and a total of 4,820 arriving.

The escalation continued in 2025, with arrivals already amounting to 7,124 people by June 30, according to Port Authority. In particular, June set a new record with 2,564 arrivals in a month. As the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Laean, characteristically stated, in a letter to 27 in late June, “illegal crossings to the European Union now come from 93% from Libya.”

Due to the deterioration of the situation and suffocating pressure on the island, by order of the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, by the end of June, Navy ships are now operating in international waters, in 12 nautical miles from the Libyan coasts, in order to assist the flow of flows.

Among other things, with the aim of cooperating with Benghazi, the Foreign Minister met with General Khalifa Haphtar on Sunday. The Greek effort continues with the visit of the Minister of Migration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris on Tuesday in Libya. Mr Plevris will accompany the EU Brunner Migration and Home Affairs Commissioner. The aim of the mission to which the Italian and Malta interior ministers also participate in is the diplomatic management of the phenomenon and to find a common European solution.

Mr Plevris, according to ministry sources in the RES-EIA, goes to Libya in search of cooperation with the country’s authorities to prevent. In addition, the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, has no involvement – in the process of arresting and transferring illegal refugees/immigrants, until they are transferred to the structures of the Ministry, where they are recorded and identified.