The Libya-Crete Route (SAR 3.5)

In 2024, Alarm Phone started to receive more and more calls from boats leaving from the area towards the island of Crete-Gavdos in Greece which is around 180nm (330km) away.

Arrivals on this route have increased sixfold over the past year. Most of the arrivals are not recorded in Crete, but in the outlying island of Gavdos, which is an almost uninhabited island of 29.6 km² with around 100 residents and no infrastructure. Incoming migrants are transferred to Crete and then to the mainland.

• Total arrivals in 2023: 815 people
• Total arrivals in 2024: 4847 people
• From 1 January-16 February 2025, 748 people

(UNHCR figures)

Alarm Phone received 27 cases on that route in 2024 with around 1500 people on board:

• Boat types: mostly rubber or wooden boats (including the typical Libyan made ones we know from SAR1/2), often unknown.
• Number of people on the boat  varies from 20-150 people. Most of the boats carry 30-60 people.
• Nationalities: Mainly Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan, Yemen.

This is a small part compared to all the arrivals towards Crete and most of the boats here don’t reach out to Alarm phone.

As visible on the map below the route potentially crosses the 3 SAR zones of Libya, Egypt and Greece and also goes through an area where a lot of Merchant Vessels pass by. The merchant vessels’ involvement is quite high in an overview of the outcomes:

In the past, people on the move would end up on Crete or Gavdos by accident, while heading to Italy. However, now they intentionally aim to go there. They want to arrive to Greece. The reasons are mainly four:

1. The deal between Meloni and Haftar : The general Haftar controls eastern Libya, and in 2023 he made a deal with the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, to stop departures.

In 2023, lots of pullbacks and interceptions were recorded in that area carried out by the Tariq Ben Zeyad militia, sometimes inside the Maltese SAR, even inside the Greek SRR. (July 2023). On 13th March, 2024, Frontex announced that they recorded a 70% decrease on the Libya –Italy route  and at the same time a 117% increase in arrivals in Crete. By the end of 2024, arrivals in Crete had increased sixfold!

It’s clear that the rise in arrivals in Crete is linked to the decrease in arrivals in Italy from Tobruk. People on the move are trying to avoid Haftar’s pullbacks, which are funded by the Italian state.

2. The enormous impact of the Pylos shipwreck: The fishing boat that sank near Pylos in June 2023 with 650 people dead or missing, was heading to Italy from Tobruk (a 10-day journey). Now, people are attempting shorter routes to the island of Crete which only takes 1 and a half days.

3. Crete is excluded from the EU-Turkey deal: The EU-Turkey deal foresees that asylum seekers have to stay in the Greek islands until their asylum application is examined. This means that they are issued with geographical restriction and they cannot leave the islands and go to the mainland. That’s why the European Union built those monstrous, prison-like camps on Lesvos, Samos, Chios, Kos and Leros where the people on the move are trapped for months, even years. But in Crete, none of this is happening. There is no geographical restriction. There are no camps for asylum seekers. Instead, people are transferred directly to Athens.

4. No established pushback regime in Crete: So far, there is no pushback system in place on Crete. Unlike the Aegean Sea, where the Greek Coast Guard (GC) has been pushing people back at sea, abandoning them on life rafts, or even kidnapping them from land, there are no recorded pushbacks in Crete so far.

This is a relatively new route for the Greek government, and they haven’t set up a pushback system there yet. Also, Turkey is much further away from Crete, making pushbacks much harder compared to Lesvos or Samos who are a few miles away from Turkey.

The big question is: If this situation continues, will Crete be included in the concept of the EU- Turkey deal? Would that mean the creation of camps like the ones in the Greek islands?

It is unlikely. The EU seems more focused on supporting the Egyptian Coast Guard to increase interceptions. In March 2024, the EU signed a €7.4 billion deal with Egypt in exchange for tighter migration controls. Also, the tourist business capital on the island is very powerful and has blocked the possibility of establishing refugee camps in Crete.

Assets at sea:

• No NGO vessels in the area, as is the case throughout Greece.
• Gavdos is almost uninhabited, there is no infrastructure, no coastguard station, thats why all the first rescue response at sea is done by fishermen or merchant vessels sent by the Greek authorities. The Greek government is sending a new CG vessel to reinforce the Greek Coast Guards capacity. On many occasions, migrants arrive independently, they sleep in the wilderness, they light fires to get warm and the fishermen see them and warn the authorities. Sometimes, even navy frigates are sent to the do rescues.
• On 14th December, a big shipwreck was recorded near Gavdos with 6 dead and more than 40 people missing. According to survivor testimonies, the merchant vessel that was sent to do the rescue made a critical mistake, causing the migrant boat to capsize.
• The EU is responding to the continuous arrivals in Crete by sending a new Frontex vessel. The Greek government will also send a new CG vessel to reinforce the Greek Coast Guards capacity. According to the Greek media, the Frontex vessel, will probably be a Lithuanian High Seas Patrol Vessel, which will be based in Agia Galini and will patrol in the south.

Frontex drones and aircrafts are also present.

Situation on the ground:

Gavdos is almost uninhabited: there’s no infrastructure. When migrants arrive, they sleep in abandoned buildings that the authorities have designated for this purpose before being transferred to Crete. In Crete, the situation isn’t any better. There is no infrastructure as well, no places to host incoming people, not even camps.

Picture: Migrants walk on the beach of Tripiti on Gavdos island, Greece, after they disembarked from a fishing boat, photo: EPA / VASSILIS MATHIOUDAKIS

People sleep in a temporary shelter provided by the municipality. No organizations are there to give them clothes or shoes. On some occasions people stay with the same wet and dirty clothes for days. The only help comes from a few independent volunteers and activists from Chania, the nearest big town. They collect supplies and bring them to the shelter, but overall, the situation is really bad.

There is no medical care unless someone is literally dying, there is no protection for vulnerable people, no registration, nothing.

After 2-3 days, the Greek authorities transfer the people to the mainland in Greece, where they can finally register, apply for asylum, and access basic services.

We believe that the Greek government will not change this setup in the near future and create camps like those in the Aegean islands (Lesvos, Samos, etc). Instead, the government will likely:

• Keep transferring people to the mainland, as they do now.
• Strengthen cooperation with Egypt and Libya to stop the boats.

Survivors also reported that they have suffered violence, torture and kidnapping at the border between LY and Egypt. There are armed groups who kidnap them and demand ransoms. Many People were locked up for months and by the time they reach Greece, they are in a very bad condition.

Iasonas Apostolopoulos (Mediterranea) and Yanek (Alarm Phone)