Over 600 migrants reach Crete in 24 hours amid route shift

More than 600 migrants arrived on Crete over a 24-hour period, in a shift in Mediterranean migration routes toward the Greek island and nearby Gavdos.

Greek port authorities rescued 545 migrants off the coast of Gavdos on Friday with assistance from the European border and coast guard agency Frontex. The migrants were transported to Crete.

Overnight, Greek authorities conducted two separate rescue operations. A Coast Guard patrol boat spotted 27 people in a dinghy 45 nautical miles southeast of Kales Limeni.

A second boat carrying 35 people was located 2.5 nautical miles southeast of Psari Forada in the municipality of Viannos.

More than 1,000 migrants arrived on Crete's coast in December alone, according to Greek authorities.

Smugglers operating from Libya increasingly favour Crete and Gavdos as destinations due to improved weather conditions and proximity to the North African coast, Greek officials said.

Greece recorded 39,495 illegal border crossings by the end of October, an 18% decrease from 48,415 arrivals in the same period in 2024, according to official figures.

The shift reflects broader changes in Mediterranean migration patterns. Italy recorded 65,642 arrivals in 2025, compared with 65,471 in 2024, indicating a stabilisation. December arrivals fell from 3,080 in 2024 to 2,336 this year, according to Italian Interior Ministry figures.

Spain saw the sharpest decline, with arrivals falling 44.3% to 32,212 between 1 January and 15 December, down from 57,833 in the same period in 2024, Spanish officials said.

Increased surveillance and stricter policies

Authorities attributed the decline in Mediterranean arrivals to increased surveillance and stricter migration policies across European countries.

However, the concentration of arrivals on Crete indicates smuggling networks are adapting routes to avoid heightened enforcement elsewhere in the Mediterranean.

Greece has struggled to manage migration since 2015, when more than 850,000 people arrived on Greek islands from Turkey. The country has built detention centres on several islands and increased patrols in the Aegean Sea.

Crete, Greece's largest island, sits approximately 300 kilometres north of Libya. Gavdos, located about 40 kilometres south of Crete, is the southernmost point of Europe.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR has criticised conditions in Greek reception centres and called for better coordination among EU member states to share responsibility for asylum seekers arriving via Mediterranean routes.