The migration crisis is intensifying as around 400 migrants in the waters off Crete have been detained. Meanwhile, the Franco-British agreement to prevent boats from reaching the UK is once again facing criticism, whilst London is taking steps to tighten controls on migrants.
Greek coastguard units, operating in conjunction with the European Union’s border agency Frontex, reported that over the past 48 hours they had carried out several operations near the island of Crete, during which some 400 migrants were rescued from overcrowded boats in the eastern Mediterranean. A growing influx of migrants is attempting the risky sea route from Libya to Europe, as calm seas and mild weather conditions prevail in the region.
Earlier this month, Greece’s conservative migration minister, Thanos Plevris, said hundreds of thousands of migrants are currently in Libya, hoping to cross the Mediterranean. Greek authorities reported that the number of crossing attempts may continue to rise during the summer months.
According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, around 42,000 migrants arrived on the Greek islands by sea last year. The same data also showed at least 107 deaths in the eastern Mediterranean during this period, even though humanitarian organisations believe the true death toll is likely to be significantly higher, as many cases of people going missing at sea go unreported.
Meanwhile, in the Cypriot coastal town of Larnaca, several people were injured following a large-scale operation to enforce immigration laws. Three men reportedly fell from the upper floors of apartment buildings during checks by the authorities on residents believed to be undocumented. According to local media reports, one man suffered life-threatening head injuries after falling from a fourth-floor balcony into a courtyard. Rescuers later found two more injured men behind a neighbouring building.
The operation took place against a backdrop of a crackdown by the authorities on migrants believed to be living in the country illegally. During the operation, police, firefighters and rescue workers were deployed across the area, with authorities sealing off five apartment blocks. The operation came after some residents told local reporters that several derelict or poorly maintained flats had been occupied for a long period of time. As part of coordinated checks carried out by immigration and migration authorities in several areas of Larnaca, at least 10 people were detained.
Cyprus remains one of the European Union countries with the highest number of initial asylum applications per capita. Cyprus and Spain recorded 2.9 asylum applications per 1,000 inhabitants in 2025, whilst Greece had the highest figure in the bloc.
Migrant Franco-British agreement branded a “farce”
According to the French authorities, the new detention centre in Dunkirk was due to open and become operational by the end of this year; however, a new lawsuit filed by the French environmental group ADELFA claims the planning permission should be cancelled because the facility in the Loon-Plage area does not comply with local planning regulations. In spite of the lawsuit, construction of the facility may continue, but could be suspended whilst the appeal is being considered by the French courts.
A government spokesman said: “France has committed to building this detention centre. The UK will only pay when the work is completed. France is a critical partner in tackling illegal migration. We continue to work closely together to stop migrants entering the UK on small boats. We will do whatever it takes to secure our borders.”
Last year, ADELFA secured the dismissal of an initial lawsuit against the French Ministry of the Interior. In February this year, ADELFA lodged an appeal with the Lille Administrative Court. The group’s legal team argues that the site is located in an industrial zone where, under planning regulations, the provision of residential accommodation is prohibited.
ADELFA’s President, Nicolas Fournier, told BBC that the group was “still trying to hinder this process of building the detention centre with the appeal.” He added: “Putting so many resources solely into repression, with ever more police, doesn’t work. So we really need to find other solutions, because we can’t continue to allow this risk of people taking to the sea in unacceptable, deplorable conditions that endanger them.”
According to the proposed plans, the detention centre will be able to accommodate around 140 people, but construction is progressing slowly. Some migrants will be held in the new temporary detention centre before being deported back to their home countries or other EU countries through which they have travelled. The focus will be on deporting migrants from Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Syria, Vietnam and Yemen, the top ten countries of origin for those who attempted to cross the border in small boats last year, according to the authorities.
Robert Bates, Research Director at the Centre for Migration Control, has described the proposals as “yet another Home Office gimmick descending into chaos.”
“With no other ideas to offer, the centrepiece of the Government’s small boats strategy now amounts to little more than throwing money at the French, who have consistently shown themselves to be unreliable partners. We cannot afford to simply wait and hope that this detention centre becomes operational. The Government must start investing in British detention facilities and commit to an unwavering policy of detention and deportation.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “The Government’s so-called deal is descending into farce. They have already handed over half a billion pounds unconditionally. Yet in the last few days alone over 1,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the Channel with the French barely lifting a finger. Now it looks like their detention centre won’t ever open. No wonder more illegal immigrants have crossed under Keir Starmer than under any other Prime Minister – up 45 per cent since the election. The only way to stop this is to leave the ECHR and deport all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival. But Labour is too weak to do this.”
In the meantime, an AI-powered facial recognition tool designed to identify adult migrants posing as children is set to be deployed at the UK’s borders next year. The Home Office said that the technology will make it easier to identify adult migrants “attempting to game the system,” after initial testing indicated “promising performance and accuracy.”
However, Human Rights Watch called on the government to abandon the programme, describing it as untested technology and saying it would undermine the protection to which vulnerable children are entitled. Unaccompanied migrant children are processed through the care system rather than the asylum system, potentially making it easier for them to remain in the country.
The decision to use the software was taken following several years of an increase in the number of people crossing the English Channel in small boats and seeking asylum at the border. A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year ending June 2025, a 14% increase on the previous year. According to Home Office figures, in the year ending March 2026, more than 6,400 migrants claiming to be children were subject to age verification at the border, with 43% of them found to be adults.
Migrant drivers in Europe face the risk of exploitation
According to Trans.Info, an information service provider about the transport, freight and logistics industry in Europe, run by a Poland-based company, transport companies in Spain, Germany and Lithuania are increasingly recruiting drivers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Turkey, West and Central Africa, as well as other parts of Asia and Latin America.
However, according to recent reports, migrants recruited worldwide face an increased risk of exploitation, with some ending up in debt traps. In Lithuania, where transport companies reportedly hired over 25,000 drivers from third countries in 2025 alone, the authorities and trade unions warn some migrants face debt-based recruitment schemes and exploitative working conditions.
Earlier, in the Netherlands, a case was reported of a driver from Tajikistan, who worked for a Lithuanian transport company in conditions of unstable employment and difficult chains of subcontracting. According to a report by the European Transport Safety Council, after being hired, the man spent several months travelling across the EU, staying in his lorry and not receiving the agreed wages, even though EU rules require proper rest conditions and timely payment.
Workers commonly pay tens of thousands of euros in advance to intermediaries and then subsequently become financially dependent on employers upon arrival. Furthermore, there have been allegations of wage deductions, withholding of documents and restrictions on freedom of movement in some parts of the industry. Investigators have suggested such practices may indicate systemic problems rather than isolated incidents, although industry representatives claim that most companies comply with the rules and that the scale of the sector requires the use of migrant labour to function.
These cases highlight wider structural problems in European logistics, where migrant drivers often work through companies registered in one country but providing transport services in several others.
