As Europe gets tough on migrants, Crete island sees spike in illegal crossings

TYMPAKI, Greece: A Heron 2 drone whirs off the tarmac on a new surveillance mission. The aircraft’s sensors scan for boats along the 350-km stretch of sea between Libya and the Greek island of Crete and can detect activity hidden below deck. Crete, Greece’s largest island, saw a threefold increase in irregular migration last year, becoming the country’s busiest point of entry with about 20,000 arrivals, even as overall irregular migration to Europe fell by 26 percent in 2025 compared with the previous year, according to data from Frontex, the EU’s border agency.

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