Crete has seen an increase of 350% in migrant arrivals since the start of the year.
Greece has suspended the processing of asylum applications from North Africa for three months after a surge in migrant numbers.
Arrivals by boat from the region will be arrested and detained, conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.
He added that Greece was “sending a message of determination… to all traffickers and all their potential customers that the money they spend may be completely wasted, because it will be difficult to reach Greece by sea.”
“This emergency situation requires emergency response measures.”
Mitsotakis added that the provisions would be based on the same legal reasoning Greece applied in 2020 to stop thousands of people from crossing the land border with Turkey.
Draft legislation will be put before parliament on Thursday.
“Clear message: stay where you are, we do not accept you,” said migration minister Thanos Plevris on X.
Mitsotakis’ announcement follows a considerable rise in migrant arrivals on the southern islands of Crete and Gavdos.
More than 2,000 migrants landed on Crete in recent days and another 520 were rescued off its coast early on Wednesday, bringing the total number since the start of 2025 to 9,000.
This was an increase of 350% since last year, said the president of the Western Crete Coast Guard Personnel Association Vasilis Katsikandarakis. “Immigration is suffocating us… Our personnel are literally on their knees,” he said.
“The flows are very high,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis told Action 24 channel on Tuesday, adding that the wave was “growing and ongoing”.
According to public broadcaster ERT, authorities in Crete are under significant logistical strain as the pace and scale of arrivals continues to exceed the capacity of available accommodation infrastructure.
Several hundred people have had to temporarily be put up in a sweltering market hall, local media said, adding that among the migrants are 30 families with young children and infants.
ERT said that redistributing migrants to other areas of the country is a particularly slow process as the tourist season means fewer buses and ferries are available.
On Tuesday Greek, Italian and Maltese ministers as well as the EU’s migration commissioner travelled to Libya to discuss the surge in migrant depatures.
But they had to turn back when the Government of National Stability (GNS) – a rival to the UN-recognised Government of National Unity (GNU) – blocked them from entering the country, accusing them of violating Libyan sovereignty.
Still, Mitsotakis said the Greek army was prepared to cooperate with the Libyan authorities to prevent the departure of the boats from the Libyan coast.
NGOs have repeatedly criticised attempts by European governments to forge deals with Libyan authorities to stem the flow of migrants.
The people who are intercepted by the Libyan coastguard and brought back to shore are often imprisoned in detention camps, where they are subject to inhuman treatment and dire conditions.
“Attempts to stop departures at any cost show a complete disregard for the lives and dignity of migrants and refugees,” Amnesty International said.
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