Only four children live on the small Greek island of Gavdos, a yellow-brown spot on the blue horizon of the Mediterranean Sea.
Three of those children belong to Efi Georgaka, who makes a living by keeping bees, raising sheep, pigs and goats, and working in the ferry ticket office in the island's tiny harbor.
It is a carefree existence with sunshine almost all year round, empty roads and long sandy beaches. Until now, that is.
Gavdos, Europe's southernmost point, has found itself on the frontline of the migration crisis and become the latest target of people smuggling gangs.
More than a thousand migrants have arrived by boat since the beginning of the year, many departing from Tobruk on the coast of Libya.
The numbers may be modest, but the impact on such a small island is enormous. Last week, 91 migrants arrived in one day, easily outnumbering the island's residents.
"If things continue like this, the island will change, I know that," says Georgaka, who has lived on the island for 16 years.
"There will be a need for police and coast guard officers and the navy, just like on other Greek islands. We don't want them here. We cherish the freedom and peace we have. Everybody knows each other."
Gavdos, one of Greece's most remote stretches of land, has no facilities or staff to handle small boat arrivals, apart from two municipal officials and one police officer.
Lefteris Lougiakis, the island's deputy mayor, has asked the government in Athens for help. Extra food and blankets have arrived, but not much else. He fears that the situation will become much worse.
"I think there will be a lot more boats this summer. It is easy for migrants to come here - there is no Frontex [the EU border agency], no navy or coast guard to stop them. People on the island are afraid that we will become like Lampedusa - that we will be overrun by migrants."
The route is longer and more dangerous than the crossing from Tunisia to the Italian island of Lampedusa, but that hasn't stopped smugglers from promoting it as the latest way to enter Europe through the back door. There is good money to be made: each migrant pays up to 5,000 dollars for the crossing.
The story continues
In a sign of European concern about the prospect of mass migration from Egypt, EU leaders on Sunday pledged a €7.4 billion financing package to Cairo.
The deal, which aims to reduce migrant flows and boost economic development, was announced in the Egyptian capital by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the prime ministers of Greece, Italy, Austria and Belgium . as well as the President of Cyprus. Of the total promised amount, EUR 200 million is intended for migration management.
"We must prevent the opening of new migration routes and we will work very closely with Egypt to ensure that this will be achieved," said Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek Prime Minister.
Gavdos has emerged as a new destination for migrants due to pressure elsewhere, mainly from a crackdown on migrant boats by the Greek coast guard and Frontex in the Aegean Sea.
The harsh policies of Giorgia Meloni in Italy, who has deployed a lot of political capital to stop the boats from North Africa, could also be a factor.
Meloni's government hopes its plans to divert migrants picked up in the Mediterranean to camps in Albania will act as a strong deterrent.
Migration route is a well-organized operation
The residents of Gavdos, which covers just 28 square kilometers, fear that their unique way of life is under threat.
There are only about 70 of them, and arriving on the island by ferry from the south coast of Crete feels like stepping back in time to a Greece light years away from the bling and hedonism of Mykonos or the selfie-snapping overtourism. from Santorini.
The "capital" of the island is the village of Kastri, a cluster of about a dozen houses on a ridge. The other main settlement, Sarakiniko, consists of a few jerry-built cottages and tavernas, hidden among the sand dunes and overlooking a huge stretch of beach. There is no taxi on the island and renting a car or moped is impossible, at least in the winter months.
Even though the migration route is relatively new, it is a well-organized operation.
The majority of migrants are Egyptian men and teenage boys, although there have also been a few other nationalities, including Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Syrians and Sudanese.
They invariably land on Tripiti Beach, an undeveloped bay on the south side of the island with turquoise shallow waters reminiscent of the South Pacific.
From there they have to walk about five kilometers along a stony path to the small coastal town of Korfos, which consists of a shuttered taverna and a few houses.
The path, which winds through stunted pine forests, is littered with abandoned clothes, half-eaten packets of cookies, water bottles and juice boxes with Arabic script on them. There are clear signs of where the migrants have rested for shade under ancient junipers and twisted pines.
From Korkos they are taken to the island's port and transported to Crete or the Greek mainland.
"Some of them told me they were held in prison-like conditions in Libya before crossing," said Vasilis Amvrosiadis, the island's only doctor, who treated the arrivals. "When they gain weight, almost all of them have dermatological problems such as scabies.
"They come to us in small boats. The locals are surprised because they consider such boats completely unsuitable for such a long crossing.
"The boats all arrive at Tripiti beach. It has become a routine, they know exactly where to go. But there is no capacity on the island to receive these large numbers. I call Gavdos the Spitsbergen of Southern Europe. It is remote and difficult to supply."
There is acute concern among islanders that the influx of migrants could damage tourism as the season starts at Easter. That coincides with warmer weather and calmer seas, which is also likely to encourage more migrants from Libya.
'If tourists hear this, they will be afraid to come'
"If we miss the summer season, we will all go crazy," says Stella Stefanaki in the small bakery she runs in the interior of the island. As she puts a tray of cheese and spinach pies in the oven, she is not convinced that the financing deal announced in Cairo this weekend will solve the crisis.
"Europe just gave Egypt millions to stop the boats, but what happens when the money runs out? The boats will come again. I heard there are 20,000 Egyptians waiting to cross. How can we deal with that?" she added.
"People are worried, they want to find a solution quickly," said Yorgos Louyiakis, who runs a taverna called The Four Brothers that looks out over a wide sandy beach and the indigo sea to Crete's snow-capped mountains to the north.
"It affects the sense of security of people and their companies. When tourists hear about the migrants, they will be afraid to come to Gavdos. Everyone here is worried about the summer tourist season."
