Over 1,300 migrants have reached Crete in recent days, prompting protests among some residents. Athens has sent several naval vessels to the southern Mediterranean to intercept migrant departures, and is accusing Libya of not doing its part to prevent the current spike in arrivals.
An initial group of slightly more than 500 migrants arrived on the island of Crete over the weekend after being rescued from waters roughly 90 kilometers south of the island.
They were moved to the Tsemes stadium to be housed in tents there, while preparations got underway to transfer them to another building outside the city of Rethymno.
However, residents started opposing the migrants' presence on the island almost immediately, according to the Greek Ekathimerini news platform.
Locals organized an impromptu protest on Sunday (June 22), blocking access to the stadium for hours.
Despite heavy police presence, there also were reports of clashes reported during the demonstration.
Some were seen firing flares at the tents and also puncturing the tires of vehicles.
Migrants sleeping on the floor of exhibition center
This first group of migrants is now scheduled to depart for Attica, where they will be housed at the Reception and Identification Center (RIC) in Malakasa.
The transfers are scheduled to take place in stages until July 1.
However, while their transfer is still being organized, another 300 migrants were rescued and brought to the island in recent days.
They were moved to the Agia Exhibition Center on the outskirts of Hania, which previously hosted exhibitions of Cretan products.
But with only 200 mattresses available there, many of the migrants have had to sleep on the floor of the building.
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These migrants, too, will be transferred to other locations in the upcoming days; however, Hania's deputy mayor for social policy, Eleni Zervoudaki, said that they should not have to stay there for more than two or three days.
"Now they might spend five days. It's a humanitarian crisis," she stressed.
Political discussions to install two purpose-fit, short-term housing facilities for migrants on Crete have been stalling for many months.
Crete increasingly becoming major arrival point
Although Crete is the largest of the Greek islands, it has largely avoided being migrant arrivals in the past due to its geographic location.
However, especially since last year, arrivals have been on the rise: According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 6,500 migrants landed on Crete between January and mid-June 2025, comfortably surpassing last year's total of 5,100.
Each year during the summer months, there is a surge in migrant arrivals on the Greek islands.
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Government taking extraordinary measures
In response to the recent upsurge in arrivals, Greece has sent three navy vessels to the Libyan coast to help prevent migrants from reaching its territory.
Greece's Migration Minister Makis Voridis meanwhile said he will travel to Libya to discuss the high volume of arrivals to Greece at present.
The governments of Greece and Italy both pay large sums to the Libyan coast guard and to other authorities in the country to intercept migrants trying to depart for Europe.
Voridis said that if no solution emerges between the countries, Greece might have to consider suspending asylum applications for people arriving on its southern shores.
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