Almost 270 migrants have arrived in Crete over the past 24 hours. The Greek coast guard rescued 142 migrants on three boats overnight, and earlier in the day, another 126 people arrived in two separate boats after leaving Libya.
A total of 268 migrants arrived in five boats on the southern Greek island of Crete in the last 24 hours, according to reports in the Greek newspaper Ekathimerini. The latest arrivals followed a brief pause in journeys from eastern Libya.
A press release on May 7 from the Greek coast guard also added that at noon on Wednesday (May 6), 83 migrants (74 men, one woman and eight minors) were located on a Cretan beach after disembarking from an inflatable boat. The migrants were taken to the main port Heraklion. The migrants told Greek authorities that they had set off from Tobruk early in the morning on May 5, stated the press release. It wasn’t clear whether the 83 were part of the 268 arrivals or in addition to them.
The migrants told the Greek authorities they had paid between 2,000 and 6,000 Libyan dinars (between around 268 euros and 804 euros) for the crossing. A 30-year-old Sudanese national was arrested on suspicion of trafficking the group into the country, after being identified as the "trafficker" by the rest of the group.
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Majority of arrivals in Greece land in Crete
Crete is now the single main destination point for migrants entering Greece, after patrols were stepped up in the eastern Aegean Sea to try and prevent boat arrivals from Turkey.
Since the beginning of the year, according to UNHCR data, more than 3,000 people have arrived on Crete. More than 7,589 people have arrived so far overall in Greece, with around 5,615 sea arrivals and 1,974 land arrivals. The data was last updated on May 3. At that point, UNHCR had registered 2,916 arrivals on Crete, but if you add the 268 who reportedly arrived in the last 24 hours, this would bring the total to over 3,000 (3,184).
Towards the end of April, Greek Minister of Shipping and Islands, Vasilis Kikilias, visited Crete for two days to talk about his policies to try and prevent migrants from journeying from Libya to Greece via the southern island.
"Modern smugglers, who exploit human life in a multi-million dollar business, have found this route from Libya to Crete," explained Kikilias during a visit to Rethymno. "The way in which we organize and react to illegal immigration is crucial. Crete is a top priority for us."
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Increasing equipment and personnel
Kikilias has promised to strengthen the coast guard in terms of equipment and human resources. He has said that they will be recruiting 500 more officers, as well as increasing the number of pursuit vessels, offshore vessels and drones patrolling the area.
"We are trying in a difficult time with wars, civil war in Sudan, with migratory flows, to organize ourselves in the best possible way, so that the Coast Guard can do its job, this is our mission," Kikilias said in a press release on the Coast Guard website. The minister promised to "effectively manage migration flows in Crete," adding that it was important to "defend Crete."
Kikilias also said that two high-ranking coast guard officers had been transferred to Libya. A press release from April 21 this year stated that there is also a permanent Greek coast guard presence in the Greek consulate in Libya, "in order to negotiate with the Libyan coast guard and the corresponding service factors."
"We are trying to cooperate, so that we can stop a first wave of migratory flows on their shores, with their own forces, their own coast guard," explained Kikilias to the assembled coast guard officers in Heraklion.
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'A complicated field of operations'
The minister admitted that the "field of operations" around Crete was more "complicated and difficult" than the stretch of water between the Turkish coast and the eastern Aegean Islands.
"Here it’s open sea, it’s 70-100 nautical miles, making search and rescue operations much more difficult. And for that, I want to congratulate once again the enormous effort that our port guards are making here under these adverse conditions, in order to defend our maritime borders and save human lives," stated Kikilias.
As Greece’s tourist season moves into full gear, the Greek authorities are keen to show that they have migration under control. Kikilias pointed out that last year, more than 2.6 million visitors visited Heraklion and the island of Crete, and that the island is important for the local community, tourism and the national economy.
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