Overview
- The EU’s new asylum package Geas entered into force on Friday, June 12, 2026, introducing mandatory border screening, faster external‑border procedures and a flexible solidarity mechanism that lets states relocate people, pay fines or send operational support.
- European border agency Frontex and national authorities say a new Libya‑to‑Crete route is under heavy pressure after crossings rose sharply in 2025, and Greece reports roughly 6,000 arrivals on Crete so far this year that are straining improvised reception sites.
- Athens has signalled it will use tougher measures, plans permanent camps near Chania and Heraklion, and is operating crowded temporary facilities where residents face movement limits and poor conditions, according to government statements and local reporting.
- Some member states are already testing Geas tools: Poland continues pushbacks at the Belarus border that legal experts call unlawful and outside Geas, while Germany’s Brandenburg has piloted fast‑track secondary centres that can restrict residents’ movement.
- UN agencies and rights groups warn the new fast‑track and border detention powers risk denying effective legal access, detaining vulnerable people for months and institutionalizing a long‑term ‘crisis mode,’ a concern sharpened by Frontex data showing a large gap between return decisions and actual removals.