Crete tourist guide

Gavdos the new Lampedusa?

2024-02-26 19:14:00

Gavdos is a small Greek island located 36 km south of Crete. 208 inhabitants live on an area of less than 30 km ² (data from the 2021 census). And this piece of land has in recent weeks become the main target for smugglers of illegal immigrants from North Africa. Statistics show that in less than two months of 2024, as many immigrants arrived in Gavdos and Crete as in the whole of last year. What numbers are we talking about? In 2023, a total of 617 immigrants arrived on the coast of both islands. In the first seven weeks of this year, 612 people came here. This represents almost 11% of the total number of immigrants reaching Greece.

Gavdos island seen from Crete

Gavdos is a new target for smugglers

The increase in the number of smuggled people is a big problem facing the small community of inhabitants of this idyllic island. Gavdos does not have the infrastructure or the appropriate number of staff, including medical staff, to accept such a number of immigrants. Most of the inhabitants of Gavdos make their living from tourists who come to the island in the summer season. As Gerd Heller, correspondent of the German Press Network in Athens (RND), recently wrote, there are serious fears that the small island of Gavdos may become the new Lampedusa. Periodically recurring incidents and possible refugee camps will effectively discourage potential tourists from the island.

Concern and the number of calls to the Coast Guard are growing with each passing week. According to government officials, the current situation requires a naval operation rather than Coast Guard intervention. The Coast Guard community primarily draws attention to the fact that, in addition to strengthening their operational activities, it is necessary to replace obsolete equipment and increase the number of personnel. It is also necessary to completely redesign the way maritime borders are guarded.

Smugglers are looking for new routes

According to immigration experts, the increase in the number of illegal immigrants in the area of southern Crete and the island of Gavdos is due to two factors. In the past, most immigrants came to Greece from Turkey via the Aegean Sea and the Evros area. However, firstly, Greece has recently tightened controls in the Aegean Sea, and Turkey has also taken more stringent measures against smugglers.
Secondly, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has also taken a more radical approach to illegal immigrants. These activities have resulted in an increasing number of smugglers who transfer people from North Africa through this new route. This route has also become more frequently used since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas. Since then, its popularity has been constantly growing, as can be seen in the numbers given above.

Additionally, the Greek authorities point out another disturbing trend. In the past, smugglers tried to transfer refugees by choosing routes through calm waters. Nowadays, they are much more likely to consciously choose courses where there is an increased risk of encountering bad weather. By doing so, they reduce the chance that the Coast Guard will find immigrants too early and send them back.

According to people who have already reached the Greek mainland, they had to pay up to $5,000 per person for a "ticket" to Europe. Before setting out, smugglers claim that their destination is the Italian coast, but old wooden boats or pontoons filled with several dozen people barely reach the southern coast of Crete and Gavdos.

Below is a record of recorded incidents from recent days.

February 22

In the morning, a boat with 35 migrants on board was located 31 nautical miles south of Agia Galini in Crete. After the boat was seized by the Coast Guard, the immigrants were first transported to Agia Galini, from where they would later be taken to Rethymno.

February 23

On Friday morning, the crew of the tanker noticed a boat at sea with 85 people on board, including 35 minors. It was determined that the boat had sailed from Tobruk in Libya the day before. The boat was spotted 49 nautical miles south of Kali Limenes, Crete. According to a Coast Guard statement, there were two smugglers on the boat who were arrested. After determining the identity of the travelers, it turned out that 50 people were Egyptians.

February 24

Another boat with 25 migrants was spotted on Tripiti beach on Gavdos island on Saturday morning. This beach is the southernmost tip of Europe. These people received food and water on Gavdos, and then were transported to Chora Sfakion for identification and transfer to subsequent Greek authorities.

February 25

Just before midnight on February 24-25, the Flashnews.gr portal received a message in Arabic. It was information that 40 nautical miles from Gavdos there was a boat with 112 immigrants abandoned by its crew. As it was determined, this information came from the brother of one of the people on the boat. The portal contacted the Greek Ministry of Shipping and provided the exact location and telephone number of one of the people on board. In this case, the Coast Guard could not intervene because the specific maritime area was beyond the limits of Greek jurisdiction. The authorities of Egypt and Libya were informed about this.

At the same time, another boat with approximately 30-40 immigrants was spotted south of Kali Limenes in Crete. In this case, the Greek Coast Guard was mobilized to intercept the boat.

The above examples show that recently this type of incidents have been happening almost every day. It is difficult to predict clearly how the situation will develop over the next weeks or months. What is certain, however, is that with the increasing destabilization of the situation in the Middle East, the number of people wishing to enter the European Union will not decrease.

Gosia,  2024-02-26 19:14:00

Średnia: NAN

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