Latest news with #GreekCoastguard
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First Post
10-08-2025
- Climate
- First Post
Italy to France, wildfires sweep Europe as climate change serves ultimatum
Wildfires are tearing through southern Europe, killing at least three people and displacing thousands as flames, driven by strong winds and extreme heat, sweep across Greece, France, Spain, and Turkey. read more A wildfire rages across a forested area near Cavuslar village, in Karabuk district, northwest Turkey, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (Ridvan Bostanci/IHA via AP) Fast-moving wildfires, fanned by strong winds and scorching summer heat, are sweeping across parts of Greece, France, Spain, and Turkey, killing at least three people and forcing thousands to flee. In Greece, flames tore across scrub-covered hillsides in the Keratea region, about 25 miles southeast of Athens, on Friday, edging dangerously close to residential areas. Nearly 200 firefighters, aided by water-dropping planes and helicopters, battled the blaze as thick black smoke billowed over the landscape. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD On the tourist island of Milos, two Vietnamese visitors died after being swept into the sea by strong winds, the Greek Coastguard confirmed. France and Spain hit hard In France, wildfires in the Aude region left an elderly woman dead in her home and injured two others, one critically with severe burns. The fire erupted Tuesday afternoon, quickly spreading through dry terrain. Across the border in Spain, 15mph winds drove flames through the popular Torre de la Peña beach resort in Cadiz. Bars, restaurants, hotels, and campsites between La Peña and Casas de Porros were evacuated as firefighters struggled to contain the blaze. Turkey declares disaster zones Turkey is facing its own crisis, with wildfires threatening its fourth-largest city and prompting the evacuation of more than 3,500 people. Two people have died, and dozens of severe fires have been breaking out daily since late June. Overnight blazes in the forested mountains around Bursa turned the night sky an ominous red. The flames forced the closure of the Bursa–Ankara highway and prompted evacuations from villages northeast of the city. The government has declared the western provinces of Izmir and Bilecik disaster zones. A separate fire near Saricaeli village in Canakkale province forced the evacuation of a university campus and an elderly care home. The Dardanelles Strait, a key shipping route, was temporarily closed due to heavy smoke and poor visibility. Region on edge Bulgaria and Montenegro are also battling blazes as high temperatures, parched landscapes, and strong winds fuel a dangerous wildfire season across southern Europe.
Reuters
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Greek lawmakers to vote on North Africa asylum ban as rights groups cry foul
AGYIA, Crete, July 10 (Reuters) - Greek lawmakers were set to vote on legislation on Thursday that would temporarily halt the processing of asylum applications of people coming from North Africa, a move rights groups have called illegal. The vote comes amid a surge in migrant arrivals to the island of Crete and as talks with divided Libya's Benghazi-based eastern government to help stem the flow were cancelled acrimoniously this week. Greece, one of the main gateways into the European Union for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa, has taken an increasingly tough stance on migration since Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' centre-right party came to power in 2019, building a fence at its northern land borders and boosting sea patrols in the east. Sea arrivals of migrants travelling from northeastern Libya to its southern islands of Crete and Gavdos, the closest European territory to North Africa, have surged this year. Dozens of migrants, including children, sat on mattresses in a temporary reception centre in Agyia, near the city of Chania, on Thursday. There were among hundreds rescued by the Greek coastguard in the Libyan Sea off Crete in recent days. "We are experiencing what I would call the worst crisis of the past two years, with hundreds of migrants disembarking on the southern coast of the island," said Vasilis Katsikandarakis, head of the coastguard staff in western Crete. "All the burden has fallen onto the coastguard, who don't have the necessary equipment and personnel to deal with such flows." In response to the spike, Mitsotakis' government proposed legislation on Wednesday stipulating that migrants crossing illegally to Greece from North Africa by sea would not be able to file for an asylum for three months. A vote on the law, which would also allow authorities to quickly deport those migrants without any prior identification process, was expected later on Thursday or early on Friday. Human rights groups said the asylum ban would violate international and European law, and called on the Greek government to recall it. "Seeking refuge is a human right; preventing people from doing so is both illegal and inhumane," the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said in a statement. The government who controls 155 lawmakers in the 300-seated parliament said on Wednesday the ban was "an emergency response to an emergency situation". Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said on Thursday the move was a fair one, aimed to make Greece less attractive to illegal migrants. "No-one is less humanitarian than anyone else in this country and in Europe," he said. Greece has long been accused by aid groups of forcibly ejecting migrants at its sea and land borders, also known as "pushbacks," an illegal practice. A Greek naval court has charged 17 coastguard officers over one of the Mediterranean's worst shipwrecks two years ago, in which hundreds of people are believed to have drowned.
Al Arabiya
20-06-2025
- Al Arabiya
Over 400 asylum seekers on Greece's Gavdos island: Coastguard
Over 400 asylum seekers have landed at the small island of Gavdos near Crete, a new entry point increasingly used by migrant smugglers in past months, the Greek coastguard said Friday. The asylum seekers arrived in separate groups over the last 24 hours, with the largest including over 350 people off Gavdos, the coastguard told AFP. The migrants' fishing boat was detected by an EU border agency Frontex vessel on Thursday. A Greek coastguard vessel and four nearby cargo ships participated in the rescue operation. The asylum seekers are to be transferred to a temporary reception center in Paleochora in Crete for registration and identification. On Thursday morning, another group of about 40 migrants was spotted on a coast of Gavdos by the coastguard. They were also transferred to the camp in Crete, according to an official statement. No details have been released so far regarding the migrants' nationalities. Located at the external borders of the EU in the southeastern Mediterranean, Greece is one of the main gateways to Europe for people fleeing war and poverty in Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. According to UN figures, over 14,000 people have arrived by sea this year, compared to over 54,000 in 2024.
