A quick-thinking waiter rescued a swimmer who was struggling in a dangerous rip current at Karteros Beach, an act captured on video that has drawn widespread praise.

Increased migratory flows have been recorded in Crete recently, with continuous arrivals and rescues in marine and coastal areas, but also serious shortages in accommodation facilities.

The government is adopting a hardline stance on illegal immigration using the “Evros formula,” in an effort to prevent the consolidation of a new route controlled by smuggling networks that targets Crete and Gavdos. This decision comes in light of the sheer number of several million civil war refugees from Sudan, migrants from the Sahel, and Egyptians fleeing economic turmoil—numbers that pose a nightmare scenario.