Greece: More than 200 migrants arrive on Crete in last week

On Thursday (January 23) the Greek authorities confirmed they had found a total of 66 migrants, in two separate groups, on the island of Crete on the previous day. The migrants said they had set off from Libya to reach the Greek island in the southern Mediterranean. The Greek authorities say the route is becoming increasingly popular with smuggling gangs.

In a press statement, the Hellenic coast guard reported that 31 migrants from Bangladesh, 22 from Egypt and 13 people from Sudan, including five minors and three women, were found in two separate locations on Crete’s southern coast early on Wednesday morning (January 22).

According to the authorities, both groups had traveled on the same wooden boat from Libya. Three of the Egyptians in the group, a 23-year-old, a 26-year-old and a 31-year-old were arrested on charges of smuggling. The Greek authorities said that other passengers on the boat identified the three as having been in “control of the boat,” reported the news agency Associated Press (AP).

The migrants told the authorities that they had paid smugglers 2,000 dollars (around 1,900 euros) per head to travel from Libya. They said they had set off on Tuesday (January 21) and traveled overnight towards Greece.

The wooden boat was destroyed, stated the Greek coast guard.

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From cargo ships to island

On January 23, the Greek coast guard also reported that a Philippines-flagged Tanker had taken 29 migrants on board after coming across their small boat about 52 nautical miles south-southeast of Gavdos in the early hours of January 22. The group of migrants had also set off from Tobruk in Libya, they said. A 20-year-old Sudanese man was identified by the other migrants as a smuggler, stated the Greek coast guard and was arrested.

The migrants were brought to a shelter in Rethymno, on the larger island of Crete. Gavdos is a tiny satellite island with a resident population of barely more than 100 people and no real infrastructure to house migrant arrivals.

An additional 45 people, from Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sudan were also picked up by a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship on Tuesday, reported AP. In this case, two of the Egyptians on board the migrant boat were arrested s smugglers by the Greek authorities. They were also found south of Gavdos and told the authorities they had paid to travel from Al Tamimi in Libya towards Greece.

The port authorities in another Cretan port, Chania, confiscated two mobile phones from the suspects and are conducting preliminary investigations, stated the Greek coast guard.

Chios and Tilos

Also on January 22, in the afternoon, the Greek coast guard said they located a group of 20 migrants on the island of Chios. The group included five men, eight women and seven minors, stated the coast guard in a press release.

Further searches ensued and a group of seven additional migrants were found, as well as a 31-year-old identified as a smuggler by the rest of the group. That person was arrested for trafficking persons lacking legal travel documents in Greek territory, and for entering Greek territory illegally.

On January 21, a Greek coast guard patrol boat came across a speedboat off the eastern island of Tilos, between the islands of Kos and Rhodes. A chase ensued and according to AP, the pilot of the boat ran it aground on a beach. A foot patrol later discovered 31 migrants, including seven children and four women on the island. Later the Greek authorities arrested a Moldovan national they suspect piloted the boat.

On Monday, January 20, a further 68 migrants were also discovered on the neighboring islands Crete and Gavdos.

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Arrivals in Greece

More than 60,000 migrants arrived in Greece in 2024. That was an increase compared to the just over 48,000 arrivals in 2023.

Since the beginning of this year, according to data provided by the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, 2,308 people have arrived in Greece, although the figures were last updated on January 19. In 2024, Syrians accounted for the largest national group of arrivals, numbering about 35 percent of all arrivals, followed by nationals from Afghanistan (26.1 percent) and Egypt (12.2 percent).

Up until January 19, 334 migrants were registered as arriving on Crete, the greatest number of island arrivals occurred to that date on Samos (488) and Rhodes (480).

With AP