Hommam Al Nassim 
The report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) revealed an increase in irregular migration boats departing from Libya and arriving in Greece since the beginning of this year.
The report pointed out that more than 1,075 irregular migrants, the majority of them from Egypt, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, arrived on the Greek islands of Crete and Gavdos after setting off from Libya since the beginning of 2024, compared to only about 860 migrants who arrived on the islands during the whole of 2023.
The report raised European fears of new waves of migrant flows and a new route for smuggling networks across the Mediterranean.
Greek Migration Minister Dimitri Keridis said in a press statement: “This situation is unprecedented, the number of migrants coming from Libya is still small, but this trend shows momentum that raises more concern for us.”
For her part, the mayor of the island of Gavdos, Lilian Stefanaki, explained that “since the beginning of the week, boats carrying dozens of people began to arrive almost daily, and there are currently about 63 migrants on the island waiting to be transferred to Crete.”
The islands of Crete and Gavdos are devoid of any facilities to receive migrants and asylum seekers, so migrants resort to staying inside abandoned buildings on the island or in unused children’s camps in Crete, which led the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to send supplies, sleeping bags and some necessary equipment to migrants.
Greece has been the preferred entry gateway to the EU for migrants from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia since 2015, and nearly a million migrants have arrived on its shores, amid an unprecedented humanitarian crisis and thousands of migrants drowning in the Mediterranean.
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