It has become impossible to manage migration flows in Chania, whether on humanitarian, health, or social levels, as the situation has spiraled out of control beyond the limits of last June, with Parapolitika.gr correspondent Pantelis Giaitsis providing a clear picture of what is happening on the island. “Our physical safety is at risk. We and the Police are doing everything we can in Agya and our lives are now threatened. This cannot continue…“, reports a Coast Guard official about the situation at the Agya exhibition center, comparing it to a slow-burning bomb ready to explode. Even during meal distribution there is tension and fights among the residents, resulting in not all migrants being fed, despite the fact that the Municipality of Chania ensures that food portions exceed the number of people in Agya. If we add to this the fact that only four Coast Guard officers, with assistance from the Chania TAE when needed, guard the area, then it becomes clear that at any moment the approximately 1,200 people there could revolt and create other critical situations.
Crete Region requests end to Agya accommodation
This is what the Development Company of the Crete Region requests in a letter to the relevant Ministers of Migration, Th. Plevris and Citizen Protection, M. Chrysochoidis, as it is the responsible body for managing the building in Agya. The letter is copied to local MPs, the Crete Region, the Municipality of Chania, as well as the leadership of ELAS and the Coast Guard at local level. The Regional Development Company of Crete (PANETAIK) declares its inability to further provide the space, which since 2024 has been used for the initial reception of migrant arrival cases throughout Chania Prefecture, while emphasizing in the letter that “the facilities (…) besides being old, do not meet basic safety and hygiene requirements for human accommodation”. At the same time, it is emphasized that it will not continue its cooperation with a “completely wrong way of managing such a sensitive, critical and dangerous situation, which we consider inhumane and offensive to human existence and dignity, to human rights rules and our national reputation”, as characteristically stated in the letter. Finally, the Development Company requests from the authorities the removal of all migrants and the cessation of operation of the space as their temporary accommodation.
More “boat loads” in South Crete – Karaves port in Gavdos filled with boats
Meanwhile, the Italian Frontex vessel stationed off Gavdos had not yet managed to transfer the over 500 people at Karaves port when the island received another “boat load” in the early hours of Monday. Their total number is 100, among them, as reported by migrants already found, there were women and children (11 women and 9 children). It should be noted that another 57 migrants had disembarked in Gavdos late Sunday night. Migrants also disembarked at Agios Ioannis beach in Messara (35 people). The small port of Karaves in Gavdos is now filled with boats from Tobruk, Libya, that transported migrants. Scattered vessels exist on all the island’s beaches, showing the number of “routes” the island received daily throughout the summer, and now.
Letter from OAK employees as well
The need to find suitable accommodation space, while raising safety issues for migrants and employees, is addressed in a letter to the Deputy Minister of Migration and Asylum, Sevis Voloudakis, Chania MPs, the Deputy Regional Governor, the Mayor and the OAK Administration, by the Workers’ Union.
They characteristically state:
«Distinguished ladies, distinguished gentlemen,
We are experiencing situations that have exceeded all limits. Dangerous, inhumane, degrading conditions. We express once again our deep concern and demand immediate measures to address the situation prevailing in the premises of the former Regional Market of Chania, where suffering people are temporarily housed — among them women and small children. Recent days have created a suffocating and dangerous environment. It is worth noting that these were not isolated incidents, but the ultimate reaction of people living daily in conditions that offend human dignity. We remind you that the facilities of the former Regional Market of Chania were chosen for temporary custody and for transferring individuals to closed structures, but we have ended up with some migrants being held for more than a month in this specific space that is neither suitable nor institutionalized for detention. Today 15/09/2025 in the facilities 1,150 people are temporarily housed, a number that far exceeds minimum safety limits. While hygiene conditions are not maintained even at minimum levels. The migrants’ protests are a consequence of all the above situations. For the protection of both workers and temporarily housed people, there is an urgent need for immediate identification of new, suitable accommodation space that meets elementary specifications of safety, hygiene and dignity. We ask for your immediate actions towards solving this very serious issue that has arisen».
