Get you up to speed: At least one dead, 25 missing after boat carrying migrants sinks off Greece
A boat carrying migrants sank off the Greek island of Gavdos, resulting in one confirmed death and 25 people reported missing, with 51 others rescued by nearby vessels. Search and rescue operations are ongoing, hampered by strong winds in the area.
Search and rescue operations continue off Gavdos with four ships, boats, Frontex aircraft, and a coastguard helicopter engaged, although strong winds are hindering efforts. Greece’s government has proposed draft legislation requiring imprisonment for those whose asylum claims are denied, amid ongoing tensions with regional authorities in Crete over the establishment of a permanent transit facility.
Greece’s coastguard confirmed one person has died and 25 are missing after a boat carrying migrants sank near Gavdos, with ongoing search efforts hampered by strong winds. The government is preparing draft legislation to enforce stricter measures, including mandatory imprisonment for denied asylum claims and the use of ankle monitors prior to deportation.
What remains unclear — It is not known how many people may still be unaccounted for following the sinking of the migrant boat.
One dead and 25 missing after migrant boat sinks off Greek island
News|MigrationAt least one dead, 25 missing after boat carrying migrants sinks off Greece
At least 51 people rescued as search operation continues off the island of Gavnos near Crete.
Published On 14 Sep 202614 Sep 2026
Published On 14 Sep 202614 Sep 2026One person has died, 25 are missing and 51 people have been rescued after a boat carrying migrants sank off a Greek island near Crete, according to the country’s coastguard.
“Fifty-one were picked up by two boats that were in the area,” a coastguard spokesman said on Monday.
He said survivors had reported that 77 people were on board when the boat went down near the island of Gavdos.
Search and rescue efforts were ongoing, with four ships, boats, Frontex aircraft and a coastguard helicopter operating in the area, Greece’s public broadcaster ERT News reported.
The 51 rescued people were due to be brought to Crete, “where the prescribed procedures will be followed”, ERT reported.
After arriving in Crete, undocumented migrants generally face immediate arrest and temporary confinement before being transferred to closed detention camps on the Greek mainland. Under Greek law, individuals are subject to extended administrative detention, severe penalties and fast-track deportation.
Strong winds blowing through the area have been hampering the search operation, ERT said.
Crete and Gavdos, about 320km (200 miles) from the Libyan coast, have become the main point of entry for asylum seekers in Greece.
In late August, Greece’s ANA news agency published figures from the Ministry of Migration and Asylum that indicated that migrant arrivals in the country fell from about 61,000 in the year to August 2025 to 42,000 in the following 12 months – a decline of about 31 percent.
Greece’s conservative government in July suspended all asylum claims for migrants arriving by sea from North Africa for three months, a move it argued helped deter crossings.
The ban passed in parliament amid a surge in asylum seekers reaching Crete and after talks with Libya’s Benghazi-based government to stem the flow were cancelled in July.
The government remains at odds with regional authorities in Crete over a plan to build a permanent transit facility on the island. It is preparing draft legislation that would mandate imprisonment for people whose asylum claims are denied and require ankle monitors during a 30-day compliance period before deportation.
Authorities in Europe have tightened their immigration rules over recent years as far-right, anti-immigrant political parties have won increasing support throughout the continent.
Greece has been in discussions with Germany and several other European Union countries on setting up “return hubs” outside the bloc for processing migrants’ claims.