Greece blocks asylum claims for migrants on island of Crete after a surge in arrivals from Libya

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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece said Wednesday it is temporarily suspending asylum applications for migrants arriving on the island of Crete following a spike in arrivals from Libya.

More than 2,000 migrants have landed on the Mediterranean island since the weekend, according to coast guard figures, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to over 10,000.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament the government planned to build a detention site on Crete for migrants and was seeking direct collaboration between the Libya and Greek coast guards to turn back boats leaving the North African country.

“This emergency situation clearly demands emergency measures,” Mitsotakis told lawmakers. “The Greek government has decided to inform the European Commission that … it will suspend the processing of asylum applications — for an initial period of three months — for those arriving by sea from North Africa.”

The suspension will apply only to migrants reaching Crete by sea. Migrants entering illegally will be detained, Mitsotakis said.

“The Greek government is sending a firm message: the route to Greece is closing, and that message is directed at all human traffickers,” he said.

Overnight, a fishing trawler carrying 520 migrants from Libya was intercepted south of Crete. A bulk carrier that took all of the migrants onboard was rerouted to the port of Lavrio, near Athens, so that the migrants could be detained on a mainland facility, authorities said.

Wednesday’s measures came after Libya was involved in a diplomatic spat with the European Union.

The EU’s Internal Affairs and Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner, who was leading a delegation of ministers from Italy, Malta, and Greece, was turned away from eastern Libya after an apparent disagreement over the format of the talks.

A spokesman for Brunner said Wednesday the talks had been scuttled by “a protocol issue” without elaborating.

Authorities on Crete said makeshift reception areas for migrants on the island were at capacity, and said they were seeking emergency assistance from the government.

An exhibition center on the Cretan port city of Chania is being used for temporary accommodation, where migrants mostly from Somalia, Egypt and Morocco have been given rolled-up mattresses and children were handed balloons to play with.

Yiannis Zervos, mayor of the small coastal port town of Sfakia, in southwestern Crete, said the local authority was scrambling to provide basics for new arrivals, including setting up canopies to create shaded areas during an ongoing heat wave.

“The situation now — as much as we’d like to help — is unmanageable,” Zervos said. “No more people can remain under humane conditions.” —- Magdy reported from Cairo. Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.