‘Pushed to the limit’: the tiny Greek island in people smugglers’ sights

Fears of a new migration route grow as more than 800 people land on Gavdos, population fewer than 70, in a few months

Even by the standards of small Greek islands, Gavdos is tiny. In a population of fewer than 70 people, there are just two families with four children. The rest “are all old people mostly living alone”, its mayor, Lilian Stefanaki, explains.

It is a micro-world that in the depths of winter is served by a single school, a bakery, two mini-markets and four kafeneia cum tavernas. The remote island in the Libyan Sea and separated from the coast of Crete by frequently unpredictable waters is watched over by Efsevios Daskalakis, who for much of the year is its sole police officer.