As Europe readies tougher migration measures, a Greek island sees illegal crossings spike

TYMPAKI, Greece (AP) — An Israeli-built Heron 2 drone whirs off the tarmac on a new surveillance mission.

The aircraft's sensors scan for boats along the 350-kilometer (220-mile) 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% in 2025 compared with the previous year, according to data from Frontex, the European Union's border agency.

One of Europe’s deadliest migration corridors, where unclaimed bodies often wash up on shore, the passage to Crete is fueled by wars and instability across Africa and is growing busier even as pressure eases on other Mediterranean routes.

As the EU readies tougher measures to combat illegal migration, Frontex says it will focus resources on Crete in an attempt to end the surge in arrivals.

Eastern Libya has become a key launch point for smugglers, undercutting years of EU efforts to curb departures and making Crete a new pressure point.

Many boats leaving Libya are overcrowded and barely seaworthy, attempting a long, exposed journey across the Libyan Sea, leading to tragedies such as a sunken fishing trawler that killed at least 700 in 2023.

Greek authorities recently rescued 20 migrants and recovered four bodies from a vessel in distress south of Crete. Dozens of others are believed missing.

Each rescue underscores the same brutal reality: The crossing is a gamble with lives.

The route to Crete is significantly longer and more perilous than the short trip from Turkey to nearby Greek islands. It requires larger vessels capable of navigating open sea for days and a different operational response from Frontex, including bigger patrol boats and expanded aerial surveillance.

Standing beside a 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.”

Georgios Pyliaros, head of Frontex operations in Greece and Cyprus, said the bad weather led to an expected seasonal lull in activity 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.

The surge in Crete last year hardened political 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.

The EU also is taking a tougher line, with new bloc-wide migration rules starting in June aimed at stricter border screening and faster deportations.

Frontex’s 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.

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, a major driver of displacement.

The International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency, estimates at least 2,185 people died or went missing in the Mediterranean in 2025. The agency said 606 migrant deaths already had 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.”

Gatopoulos reported from Athens, Greece.

Follow AP migration coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/migration

A Frontex Italian Guardia Di Finanza OPV Osum patrols the Aegean Sea near Heraklion, Crete Island, Greece, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Frontex Contingent Commander Georgios Pyliaros takes pictures of Frontex officers from the Guardia di Finanza OPV Osum as they prepare in their speedboat to be lowered into the sea during a patrol in the Aegean Sea near Heraklion, Crete, Greece, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

A Frontex HERON2 UAV drone is parked at Tympaki airport on Crete island, Greece, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Frontex officers from the Italian Guardia Di Finanza OPV Osum prepare to go on patrol in Heraklion, at the port on Crete Island, Greece, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Frontex officers from the Italian Guardia Di Finanza OPV Osum patrol by speedboat on the Aegean Sea near Heraklion, Crete Island, Greece, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday in what President Donald Trump said was a massive operation to destroy the country’s military capabilities and eliminate the threat of it creating a nuclear weapon.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it would defend its homeland and its Revolutionary Guard said it launched counterattacks, firing drones and missiles at Israel and strikes aimed at U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.

The strikes came after Trump has pressured Tehran for a deal to constrain its nuclear program, building up a fleet of American warships in the region as the country struggles with growing dissent following nationwide protests.

More than 80 people were reported killed and dozens wounded at a girls’ school in southern Iran in the Israeli-U.S. strikes, the local governor told Iranian state TV. Shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on the capital of the United Arab Emirates killed one person, state media said.

Israel announced it had launched an attack on Iran shortly after explosions were heard in Tehran on Saturday morning. One of the first strikes hit near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It wasn't immediately clear where Khamenei was at the time; he hadn't been seen for days.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian are alive “as far as I know.”

In a video statement, Netanyahu said Israel was striking targets connected to the “oppressive regime” and military sites, including missile installations. “The objective of the operation is to put an end to the threat from the Ayatollah regime in Iran,” he said, adding that it would continue “as long as necessary.”

Bahrain said a missile attack targeted the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in the island kingdom. Witnesses heard sirens and explosions in Kuwait, home to U.S. Army Central. Explosions could also be heard in Qatar, where Al Udeid Air Base hosts thousands of service members.

Saudi Arabia said on state-run media that it had repelled attacks by Iran on its capital and eastern region.

Iraq and the United Arab Emirates closed their airspace, and sirens sounded in Jordan.

An apartment building in northern Israel was damaged and shrapnel fell in multiple sites, according to media and police. But Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said there had been no significant hits in Israel and rescue services said there were no injuries reported from missile barrages across the country.

Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, meanwhile, have vowed to resume attacks on Red Sea shipping routes and on Israel, according to two senior Houthi officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no official announcement from leadership.

It took over an hour for Trump to make an official announcement on the U.S. involvement in what he termed “major combat operations.”

In an 8-minute video on social media, Trump indicated the U.S. was striking for reasons far beyond the nuclear program, listing grievances stretching back to the beginning of the Islamic Republic following a revolution in 1979 that turned Iran from one of America’s closest allies in the Middle East into a fierce foe.

Trump told Iranians to take cover but urged them to later rise up and topple the Islamic leadership.

“When we are finished, take over your government,” Trump said. “It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”

The attacks came a day after Trump voiced frustration over lack of progress in negotiations to stop Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons.

Israel said it had worked with the U.S. for months to plan the attacks.

Before U.S.-Iran negotiations were underway in Geneva, the U.S. had assembled a vast fleet of fighter jets and warships in the region to try to pressure Iran into a deal over its nuclear program.

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three guided-missile destroyers arrived in January to bolster the number of warships in the region. The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and four accompanying destroyers later were dispatched from the Caribbean to head to the Middle East and are now in the Mediterranean.

The fleet has added more than 10,000 U.S. troops to the region.

The fighting disrupted air travel in the region.

Israel and the United Arab Emirates, home to both the long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad, closed their airspace Saturday. Qatar Airways Group said it has temporarily canceled flights to and from Doha because Qatari airspace also was closed.

Planes en route to Israel were rerouted to other airports.

Virgin Atlantic canceled its flight from London's Heathrow Airport to Dubai and said it would avoid flying over Iraq, meaning flights to and from India, the Maldives, Dubai and Riyadh could take slightly longer. Virgin Atlantic said all flights would carry appropriate fuel in case they need to reroute on short notice.

Turkish Airlines said on X that flights to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Jordan will be suspended until Monday and flights to Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman would be suspended on Saturday.

Dutch airline KLM previously said it was suspending Tel Aviv flights starting Sunday.

Rescue workers and residents search through the rubble in the aftermath of an Israeli-U.S. strike on a girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (ISNA via AP)

People sits in a shelter after warning sirens sound following Israeli strikes on Iran, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Vehicles drive along a highway following Israeli and U.S. strikes in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Vehicles queue outside a gas station following Israeli strikes in the city, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)