EU toughens migration measures as Crete becomes new arrival focus
As Europe prepares tougher migration measures, Frontex is increasing its operational focus on Crete, where illegal crossings have spiked along a long sea route between Libya and the Greek island. Officials and agency documents described the shift as part of a broader change in smuggling patterns, with eastern Libya becoming a key launch point and Crete emerging as a new pressure point even as other routes see less activity.
On Crete, Frontex began a new surveillance mission using an Israeli-built Heron 2 drone, which according to Frontex officials scans for boats along a 350-kilometer stretch of sea between Libya and Crete. The aircraft’s sensors, officials said, can detect activity hidden below deck, part of a broader effort to keep watch as smugglers exploit the longer and more dangerous crossing.
Frontex data show Crete recorded about 20,000 arrivals of irregular migrants last year, after a threefold increase, while overall irregular migration to Europe fell by 26% in 2025 compared with the previous year. Frontex described the passage to Crete as one of Europe’s deadliest migration corridors, where unclaimed bodies often wash up on shore, and said the route has grown busier even as pressure eases on other Mediterranean routes.
The longer journey is also changing how authorities respond. The route to Crete is significantly longer and more perilous than the trip from Turkey to nearby Greek islands, meaning smugglers often use larger vessels that can navigate open sea for days. Frontex said that requires a different operational posture, including bigger patrol boats and expanded aerial surveillance, rather than the tactics used on shorter crossings.
Standing beside the drone at Tympaki airfield on Crete, Mariusz Kawczynski, a senior Frontex operations official, said the technology was indispensable. “This asset is of critical importance,” he said. “There is no substitute in modern technology to have eyes for Europe of the threats that are coming to our borders.”
Frontex officials also tied current activity to seasonal conditions. Georgios Pyliaros, head of Frontex operations in Greece and Cyprus, said bad weather led to an expected seasonal lull in January and February but the agency expects increased crossings in the spring. “If we take into consideration what happened in the last two or three years, we will have some increase in the following months, for sure,” Pyliaros said.
Greek authorities have continued to deal with distress at sea on the route. The report said Greek authorities recently rescued 20 migrants and recovered four bodies from a vessel in distress south of Crete, with dozens of others believed missing, underscoring what officials described as the crossing’s lethal risks. It also cited that overcrowded, barely seaworthy boats leaving Libya have contributed to tragedies such as a fishing trawler that sank in 2023 and killed at least 700 people.
Brussels resets as policies harden
The surge in Crete last year hardened policy positions in Athens. Greece temporarily suspended asylum claims from migrants arriving via the Libya route for three months, scrapped certain amnesty provisions and introduced mandatory imprisonment for asylum seekers whose claims are rejected, according to the report.
The European Union is also tightening its approach, with new bloc-wide migration rules starting in June aimed at stricter border screening and faster deportations. Frontex said its standing corps is set to reach 10,000 officers by the end of the year, double the number employed in 2021, reflecting the policy shift and expectations of sustained pressure along key routes.
The wider context remains defined by conflict-driven displacement in Africa and a high death toll in the Mediterranean. A war-tracking project at Sweden’s Uppsala University recorded 61 active conflicts globally in 2024, the highest number since World War II, including expanding militant activity in western Africa, which the report described as a major driver of displacement.
The report also cited the International Organization for Migration’s estimates. The International Organization for Migration said at least 2,185 people died or went missing in the Mediterranean in 2025, and that 606 migrant deaths had already been recorded in the Mediterranean as of Feb. 24, warning that limited access to search-and-rescue information means the true toll is likely higher. “The continued loss of life on migration routes is a global failure we cannot accept as normal,” IOM Director General Amy Pope said. “These deaths are not inevitable.”