In Greece, dozens of migrants lost after a shipwreck

Since the dawn of Wednesday, August 10, the Greek Coast Guard has been activated off the islands of Rhodes and Karpathos in the southeastern Aegean with helicopters, patrol boats and a tanker to rescue dozens of refugees who were in danger at sea. After their overloaded boat sank, which capsized as a result of violent inflation. Twenty-nine people, mostly Afghan, Iranian and Iraqi men, were rescued and taken to the neighboring islands of Karpathos and Kos, where there is a camp for migrants, according to Greek authorities. But between 30 and 50 exiles were still missing on Wednesday, according to port police, who had difficulty determining the exact number of passengers on the ship that left the Turkish shore, just a few kilometers away.

According to the first statements of the survivors, There were about 80 people on the boat.And the Initially claimed by the Coast Guard. But according to their spokesperson, Nikos Kokalas, who was questioned on public television channel ERT, he ventured the hypothesis that“This boat cannot carry 80 migrants, there must have been fewer passengers”Recognizing that migrant boats Always overburdened ». Nikos Kokalas also claimed that the majority of passengers “ They weren’t wearing life jackets.” And that the boat that left the Turkish city of Antalya was its final destination from Italy.

For migrants stranded in Turkey and wishing to reach Europe, access to the northern Aegean islands (Lesbos, Samos, Chios) has become increasingly complex, as the presence of the European border control agency Frontex and the Greek Coast Guard has been strengthened since March 2020 and refoulement has become illegal. For immigrants semi-systematic. The Forensic Engineering Research Group has been identified and documented on its online platform 1018 “repelled” in the Aegean in just two years (March 2020 – March 2022).

Often robbed and assaulted by the Greek coast guard, migrants are forced to return to Turkey, after being pushed out to the open sea or held once on the Greek island and forcibly returned on motorless lifeboats. This practice is contrary to international law and the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Despite investigations by NGOs and the media, Athena has long denied resorting to such reviews.

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