Crete – Gavdos: 7,336 refugee arrivals in the first half of 2025, lack of management plan
Source: G. Varemenos, txvs.gr
Table of Contents
Arrival data for the first half of 2025
Despite the fact that data from 2024 already indicate the establishment of a new refugee route, a fact confirmed by the data presented below for the first half of 2025, and despite legislative provisions for reception and identification procedures and the relevant government promises, to date there is no central provision for addressing the needs of new arrivals. Nor do even the rudimentary dignified conditions exist for the short-term stay of asylum seekers arriving in Gavdos and Crete.
Today, we are publishing data on refugee arrivals in Crete and Gavdos for the first half of 2025, based on our own collection and processing. We have compiled incidents that occurred in the area during this period, cross-referencing data from official Hellenic Coast Guard announcements, local authority announcements, and publications in local and national media. All incidents presented have been specifically cross-verified by Coast Guard announcements.
According to these data,
7,336 refugees arrived in the first half of 2025 in Crete and Gavdos,
different incidents.
The following graphs illustrate the number of refugee arrivals per place of detection and per month, the number of incidents per month, and the nationalities of the newly arrived refugees.
For the purpose of this publication, we addressed an inquiry to the Hellenic Coast Guard regarding arrival data in Crete and Gavdos for the period from 1 January 2025, to 15 June 2025 (total numbers, nationalities, genders, minor status). We addressed a corresponding inquiry to the Reception and Identification Service of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, without receiving a response. According to the Hellenic Coast Guard’s response, refugee arrivals for this period were 5,701, compared to 5,849 that we recorded for the same period, all cross-referenced by Coast Guard announcements. This difference may be due to the fact that the Coast Guard does not include those co-passengers accused of smuggling, as clarified in our relevant follow-up inquiry.
Regarding the nationalities of the new arrivals, based on the Hellenic Coast Guard’s response, the three main nationalities of people arriving in Gavdos and Crete are Egypt (44.7%), Sudan (28.3%), and Bangladesh (19%).
Among the new arrivals, there are obviously vulnerable cases requiring increased protection. Specifically, in some incidents, we encounter a significant number of unaccompanied minors. A characteristic example was the arrival of a small vessel on 1 March at Kaloi Limenes, Heraklion, where out of 60 passengers, 22 were minors. In other cases, families with young children are identified, usually of Sudanese origin, or even single women. On 6 June, an arrival south of Gavdos included, among others, two women and a minor girl, all of whom were transported to a hospital. On 21 June, a newborn infant staying in the temporary accommodation facility at the former Agyia exhibition center in Chania was transported by ambulance to the hospital, according to the Social Center – Migrants’ Center of Chania.
Additionally, it’s worth noting that among the recorded incidents is the rescue of four Sudanese refugees by the sailboat Madleen of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition on 5 June. The Madleen, en route to Gaza, responded to a distress signal, altered its course, and rescued the 4 refugees who had fallen into the sea. It then safely transported them near Crete, where Frontex took them over and brought them to the island.
According to Hellenic Coast Guard announcements, most boats depart from Eastern Libya, usually from Tobruk. However, there are also incidents where vessels departed from Musaid and Derna, while this semester also recorded a boat that had departed from Turkey.
Lack of first reception and accommodation conditions
Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) had addressed an inquiry to the Reception and Identification Service of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum on 13 January, asking whether there were any provisions for the creation of an organised temporary accommodation structure in Crete and if so, which ones, without receiving any response. Arrivals in Crete, already six times higher in 2024 compared to 2023, continued their rapid increase in early 2025. In late March, the new Deputy Minister of Migration and Asylum, Sevi Voloudaki, stated that there was no need for new accommodation structures in Crete, while in mid-May, the recently resigned Minister of Migration and Asylum, Makis Voridis, visited two former camp sites, following his statements about establishing a closed detention center.
Newly arrived refugees in Crete and Gavdos continue to reside in temporary, informal, and unsuitable spaces in Crete, under unacceptable and undignified conditions and without basic infrastructure. The situation at the end of June was characteristic, when hundreds of refugees arrived on large vessels at various points on the island. There were reports of people departing even barefoot towards the organised structures of the mainland. In Rethymno, the 501 people who arrived on 21 June in Agia Galini were transferred to an open field with tents in the Tsesme area, where they were subjected to a racist attack with flares by a gathered crowd. They were then transferred to another unsuitable location, the old Kitrenosi facilities in Latzima. In Chania, at the temporary accommodation facility in the former Agyia exhibition center, conditions remain undignified, despite strong criticism, while only a few days ago a few makeshift showers were installed. In Heraklion, new arrivals are staying in the so-called old ‘Psygeio’ (Fridge)- ITHAVIK rooms at the port. These are rooms of 15 sq.m. that lack water, natural light, or adequate ventilation, with the Union of Coast Guard Personnel of Crete warning of a health-bomb. Organisations and citizens’ collectivities periodically conduct campaigns for the collection of basic necessities and clothing, which they distribute to the refugees in the aforementioned spaces.
Currently, those who initially arrive in Crete and Gavdos are mainly transferred to the Reception and Identification Centers in Malakasa, Diavata, and Fylakio (Evros). Due to the full capacity of these structures, refugees often remain for longer periods in the unsuitable facilities in Crete.
In the first week of July, outside the period covered by this text (1/1–30/6/2025), and following hundreds of arrivals on the island, serious incidents occurred: On 6 July, 442 refugees who arrived in Agia Galini, Rethymno, while en route to Chania, were returned to Rethymno (following political intervention, according to the Mayor of Rethymno’s complaint). They were forced to spend the night at the port under deplorable conditions, outdoors and during a heatwave, with approximately 15 children among them. On 7 July, the number of refugees at the former Agyia exhibition center reached 781, while the total number of individuals staying on Crete that day was estimated at around 1,700. On the same day, after successive boat arrivals, the arrival of 150 refugees in Agia Galini was met with mobilisation by residents who gathered and prevented the transfer of the new arrivals. The atmosphere on the island is particularly tense, with volunteers appealing for a de-escalation of hate speech.
Source: Thalassa Allileggyis
Source: Thalassa Allileggyis
Source: neakriti.gr
Source: rethnea.gr
Source: rethnea.gr
Source: zarpanews.gr
Failure to implement the law on reception and identification
In any case, it is clear that the authorities are failing to implement the explicit provisions of the law, which dictates that newly arrived refugees, immediately upon their arrival and under the responsibility of the police or coast guard authorities, must undergo reception and identification procedures. In Crete, no service of the competent Reception and Identification Service (Reception and Identification Center) operates, nor has any mobile unit been provided to carry out the absolutely necessary and urgent procedures for new arrivals. The lack of first reception procedures leads to a failure in identification and poses serious risks for vulnerable individuals, such as, for example, unaccompanied minors and those facing serious medical issues requiring immediate attention. Furthermore, the appalling conditions in detention centers in Libya, where refugees are often victims of torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, or even mass rapes, make large segments of newly arrived refugees particularly vulnerable.
Strong reactions from local government and Coast Guard
Source: HCG – Hellenic Coast Guard.
The Ministry of Migration and Asylum is responsible for the planning and implementation of national migration policy. Local bodies highlight the complete absence of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum and emphasise the need for the Ministry to assume the responsibilities of transportation, food, and rental of temporary accommodation space. In late June, the Mayors of the Regional Unit of Heraklion decided to send a joint document to the Ministry of Migration and Asylum requesting the signing of a contract, so that the Ministry would cover the costs of transportation and feeding of the people arriving in Crete and relieve the local government from this process. For the Municipality of Chania, an emergency financial aid of 207,000 euros was approved by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum. On 20 June, the responsible Deputy Mayor stated that the funds had not yet been disbursed. For the Municipality of Agios Vasilios in Rethymno, funding of 100,000 euros was approved in April to cover the accommodation needs for the current year.
The Regional Governor of Crete, Stavros Arnaoutakis, stated that the Region of Crete has been requesting the creation of two small temporary accommodation structures for a period of 2-3 days from the Ministry of Migration and Asylum for three years now. In mid-June, the Panhellenic Federation of Hellenic Coast Guard Personnel Unions likened the management in Crete to an “unmanned ship,” emphasising that Coast Guard personnel in Crete “operate non-stop, exceeding their limits,” as “in addition to rescue, safe transport, and investigative procedures, the Hellenic Coast Guard personnel have taken on the guarding and subsequent escort of migrants to structures in the mainland, as there is no Reception and Identification Center operating in Crete,” and requesting, among other things, the strengthening of maritime assets with double crews. The announcement also states that “with the situation in Crete now out of control, the only thing we observe is the shirking of responsibilities, with coast guards bearing responsibilities and duties that do not fall within their purview.” In mid-May, the Union of Hellenic Coast Guard Personnel of Western Crete requested, among other things, the immediate reinforcement of the Region’s Services with monthly personnel transfers, following the patterns of transfers applied in the Eastern Aegean, due to the significant increase in arrivals.
Furthermore, the presence of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex is expected to be reinforced south of Crete by August. A Frontex inflatable boat operates in Gavdos and a vessel operates in Agia Galini, while Frontex has provided two drones for surveillance of the area.
Frigates against refugees
Source: flashnews.gr
In early May, the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, Vasilis Kikilias, emphasised that the increase in arrivals from the Libyan sea is “due to the destabilisation in Sudan and the civil strife in Libya and surrounding areas.” In reality, this statement recognises the refugee profile of the people arriving in Crete seeking protection and therefore our country’s obligation to protect them. However, after the arrival of numerous refugee vessels from the coasts of Libya in mid-June, the government decided to send two Greek frigates and a general support vessel to the maritime area south of Crete up to the limits of Libya’s territorial waters with the aim of their presence acting as a “deterrent.” According to local media, this operation has already begun, and the two frigates were spotted sailing south of Sfakia on 29 June.
We reiterate that informal forced returns (pushbacks and any other form of forced removal) of third-country nationals are absolutely illegal under international, European, and national law. These practices have already led to condemnations of Greece by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Therefore, the only lawful action authorities can take is the rescue of individuals in distress at sea and ensuring their access to the right to raise any protection issues (asylum) by explaining their individual circumstances, and not their obstruction.
Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) calls on the competent authorities to ensure:
- The rescue of individuals in danger at its maritime borders and in the Greek search and rescue (SAR) zone by ensuring appropriate means.
- The implementation of existing legislation for reception and identification procedures under dignified conditions.
- Adequate healthcare and interpretation services.
Read more about arrival data for 2024 and in detail about the unsuitable infrastructure and accommodation conditions in Crete and Gavdos: https://rsaegean.org/en/crete-gavdos-sixfold-increase-in-refugee-arrivals-in-2024/
