- The Union of Coast Guard Personnel of Crete has issued a scathing public rebuke, warning that officers are being pushed beyond human limits because of local foot-dragging and improvised infrastructure failures.
- Migration arrivals for 2026 are stabilizing at an estimated 21,000 to 22,500 (following 20,881 in 2025); the geographic burden has shifted sharply eastward, with Heraklion and Ierapetra taking the
- The union blasted local authorities for manufacturing fear and blocking small-scale, highly controlled transit facilities, leaving officers stranded with unacceptable makeshift solutions like the infamous “Refrigerator” warehouse.
The Union of Coast Guard Officers of Crete is calling for a small, temporary facility in Heraklion to handle newly arrived migrants, arguing that the current arrangements put unnecessary pressure on personnel and leave the island without a proper first-stop solution.
The extraordinary growth seen between 2023 and 2025 has slowed, while the geographical distribution of arrivals has shifted eastward, with Heraklion and Ierapetra seeing more activity.
The union says the change is already visible in its operational workload. Its officers are still handling arrivals without the basic infrastructure needed to process people properly, leaving the Coast Guard to improvise.
The Numbers Have Changed
The figures supplied by the union show just how dramatic the increase was over the past few years.
Crete recorded:
- 798 arrivals in 2023
- 5,027 in 2024
- 20,881 in 2025
- approximately 16,840 during the first nine months of 2026
The union expects the full-year 2026 figure to end somewhere around the 2025 level, depending on weather and other factors during the final months of the year.
The picture is therefore no longer one of the extraordinary year-on-year increase seen between 2023 and 2025. The union describes the current situation as a period of stabilization.
The figures supplied by the union show the shift clearly:
| Chania | 218 | 111 |
| Rethymno | 17 | 26 |
| Heraklion | 80 | 153 |
| Ierapetra | 25 | 57 |
The numbers don’t tell us everything about individual incidents, but they do show why the union argues that Crete’s response cannot remain built on the assumption that pressure will always arrive in the same place.
Coast Guard Wants a Place to Put People
The union says it has been asking for two small, decent temporary facilities, one in Chania and one in Heraklion.
The idea is relatively straightforward. Newly arrived people would spend only the first few days there while the necessary administrative, investigative and health procedures are carried out. They would then be transferred to existing closed facilities on mainland Greece.
The union is not presenting it as a new permanent settlement. Quite the opposite.
The officers argue that keeping the facility deliberately small would make it unsuitable for conversion into a large permanent reception and identification center.
This is also where the argument over Heraklion’s proposed facility becomes politically awkward.
The “Fridge” Was Never Meant to Be a Solution
For months, the Coast Guard has been using a space next to the old refrigeration building at Heraklion port as an emergency solution.
The union now calls the arrangement unacceptable for both migrants and the officers working there.
It was never designed for this purpose. The owner initially tolerated its use, but has now taken legal action to have it removed. According to the union, the owner does not intend to make the property available for a permanent arrangement, meaning the space cannot realistically be turned into a proper long-term facility.
The Coast Guard has therefore ended up in a familiar position: everyone knows the current arrangement isn’t suitable, but replacing it requires agreement among a collection of authorities that do not appear to agree on much.
Heraklion and Chania Are Not Having the Same Experience
The union points to the temporary facility at Agia in Chania as an example of what can be done when the necessary infrastructure is in place.
It argues that the facility provided a more appropriate environment for initial reception, registration and temporary accommodation than the makeshift arrangements currently being used in Heraklion.
The union also rejects the idea that a properly controlled temporary facility automatically means a permanent migration center is coming to the island.
Its argument is that size is the safeguard.
A small facility designed for short stays has limited capacity. It cannot simply absorb thousands of people or gradually turn into a large permanent structure.
The union contrasts this with proposals involving former military camps, which it argues could offer considerably more room for expansion.
Whether that concern is justified ultimately depends on the authorities designing the facility. But the union’s position is clear: if Heraklion is going to have a temporary transit facility, keep it temporary and keep it small.
Meanwhile, the Coast Guard Keeps Doing the Job
This is probably the least glamorous part of the story and the part that tends to disappear when the discussion turns into another political fight.
According to the union, Coast Guard personnel have been working excessive hours and repeated standby shifts while also being asked to deal with improvised accommodation and security arrangements.
The union says officers are being pulled away from their ordinary duties to handle tasks associated with guarding and managing arrivals.
It also says the situation is causing physical and psychological exhaustion among personnel.
Those are the union’s assessments of working conditions, and they are hard to dispute. A maritime security service is being asked to do maritime security work and, whenever necessary, become a reception and holding service.
The Border Guards Are Already There
The union says opening a proper temporary facility would let those officers take over the guarding responsibilities, relieving the Coast Guard of a job that is currently consuming personnel and operational capacity.
In other words, the problem is not simply where migrants spend a few days.
It is also who is spending their working hours looking after them.
The union accuses authorities and political actors of turning the issue into a political argument and says they are deliberately cultivating fear around proposals for a temporary facility.
The Coast Guard says more incidents are now being recorded around Heraklion and Ierapetra, while Chania has handled a much larger share in previous years. For travelers, this does not mean ordinary holidays are being disrupted across the island, but it does put additional pressure on ports, Coast Guard services and local facilities already dealing with heavy summer traffic. Any temporary migration facility in Heraklion would be intended to keep people intercepted at sea away from improvised spaces around the port and allow authorities to process and transfer them without tying up frontline maritime resources.
