Dramatic footage, reportedly recorded last Saturday on the Greek island of Gavdos, south of Crete, appears to show local bathers in the water attempting to prevent a migrant boat from approaching the shore by pushing it back toward the open sea.
According to official information, a Frontex vessel later intervened, taking the migrants on board and transporting them to the port.
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The remote Greek island of Gavdos is at a breaking point after a new wave of undocumented migrants arrived by boat from Libya, placing a significant strain on the small island’s limited resources. The recent surge follows a weekend that saw approximately 850 migrant arrivals in the wider Crete region, straining emergency accommodation capacities.
Migrants, as well as those arriving on Gavdos, placed under detention or restriction of freedom
In speaking to state broadcaster ERT, Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris, confirmed that the government has initiated a plan to manage the situation. “The decongestion of the island has begun,” he stated, adding that all new arrivals “will have left within two or three days” for ministry-designated facilities.
Plevris clarified that, under the current suspension of asylum procedures for those crossing the border illegally, new arrivals are placed under administrative detention or restriction of freedom. “These are not accommodation structures, but places of confinement, as these people are considered prisoners,” he said.
The minister noted that while this new route to Crete is a concern, overall migrant flows in the eastern Aegean have decreased by eleven percent, a trend he attributed to cooperation with the Turkish Coast Guard.
He speculated on the reasons for the new surge in the south, stating that authorities are examining “whether it is cyclical or whether it is linked to aggressive movement by smuggling rings or other instrumentalization purposes.”
In response to the evolving situation, Plevris mentioned that surveillance and monitoring operations are underway in the Libyan maritime zone, involving the Greek Coast Guard and the Ministry of Defense. He warned that “if the phenomenon continues, there will be an escalation in this area as well.”
Related: Greece Reports Drop in Migrant Numbers After Asylum Freeze
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