Crete Migrant Arrivals Exceed 800 in 24 Hours

• Over 800 people reached Crete and Gavdos in a single day, NeaKriti reports.
• Successive landings and rescues kept the Coast Guard and Frontex in full mobilization.
• Migrants were transferred to Gavdos, Chora Sfakion, and Ierapetra for identification and shelter.
• Local authorities warn of shortages, a lack of doctors, and pressure on communities.
• Arrest of an 18-year-old smuggler highlights growing concerns.

According to reports from NeaKriti and KritiTV, Crete has entered a period of heightened pressure after successive arrivals of migrant boats around Gavdos and the island’s southern shores.

At dawn on Sunday alone, four separate landings were recorded:

• One dinghy carrying 144 people
• Three more groups of 60, 65, and 33 people

Later that morning, a Coast Guard vessel rescued 38 more. At the same time, a Frontex patrol picked up 71 migrants and transferred them to Chora Sfakion.

By midday, two more inflatable boats carrying 166 people were located. Of these, 49 were taken to Gavdos and 117 to Chora Sfakion.

The day before, Saturday noon, the situation escalated: three boats with nearly 270 people came ashore, two at Trypiti and one at Kareve. All were brought safely to land for registration.

Meanwhile, south of Ierapetra, a wooden vessel with engine failure was intercepted carrying 42 men, who were later housed temporarily in facilities provided by the municipality.

The repeated landings have stretched small communities to the limit. Eleni Zervoudaki, deputy mayor of Chania, told neakriti.gr of “desperation, lack of doctors, and serious health problems in Agyia.” On Gavdos, Mayor Lilian Stefanaki warned that the municipality is “at a dead end, without supplies and with shopkeepers forced to close under the suffocating conditions.”

Arrest Highlights Smuggling Concerns

Beyond the humanitarian pressure, authorities are also confronting smuggling networks. After 36 migrants were rescued south of Gavdos, passengers identified an 18-year-old from South Sudan as the man who had ferried them from Tobruk, Libya, for payment.

He was arrested by the Coast Guard and now faces charges under Greek immigration law and the penal code, with the preliminary investigation handled by the Chania Port Authority.

Over 800 in 24 Hours

In total, arrivals since Saturday afternoon have surpassed 800 people, stretching the capacity of local services on Gavdos, Sfakia, and Ierapetra. Coast Guard crews, supported by Frontex, remain on full alert, while municipalities have been called to provide immediate shelter solutions until state transfers are arranged.

For most of the year, Crete’s southern shores are framed in travel brochures as gateways to hidden beaches and hiking trails. In practice, they have become a repeated stage for another reality — landings and rescues that have multiplied since the beginning of the year. The contrast is stark, but it underlines Crete’s position at the crossroads of the Mediterranean: an island equally exposed to tourism flows and migration tides.