Category Archives: Turkey

Balkans, Everywhere, Greece, Journey back to the borders, Mytilini, Part III, Turkey

Freedom of movement for everyone

Ferries not Frontex

During our journey back to the borders we had to witness for two weeks the situation for newly arrived refugees in Lesvos getting worse day by day.
More and more children, mothers, fathers and grandparents are risking their lives by crossing the Aegean sea.
After arriving and being thankful for surviving they are faced with the unbearable situation in Lesvos.
Walking in the sun for 2 – 68 km, waiting in dirty parking lots, at the port, in makeshift refugee camps like Kara Tepe and outside and inside the Detention center of Moria and elsewhere.
The Situation at other European arrival and transit points like Kos or Idomeni is not better.
It is time for the competent authorities of the European Union to provide for Ferries transporting refugees to Europe in a respectful and save way. Freedom of Movement for everybody!

Greece, Turkey

11.07.14 Shipwreck near Samos: 6 dead, 23 survivors and more than 8 missing

On the early noon of Sunday 11th of July a refugee boat got in distress 10nm North East of Karlovasi, Samos. The refugee boat carrying approximately 35-40 people was a sailing boat according to the testimonies of the survivors.
The causes of the shipwreck are not yet clear. The media speak about bad weather conditions, overloaded boat, panic, sudden movement of the passengers etc as possible causes.

On Sunday there are 15 survivors in the Greek side (9 were brought to Chios, 6 to Samos) and 8 survivors on the Turkish side (2 near the shipreck area and 6 norhernof this area). In Samos Hospital (ICU) there is a minor in intensive care. They were trying to transfer him to Mytilini ICU but his severe health condition made the transfer impossible.

2 corpses were found Friday on the Greek side: a dead man and a dead woman and 2 more bodies (of a man and a boy) were found on Saturday also on the Greek side. Another two corpses were found on the Turkish side.

At least 8 persons are still missing.

The rescue operation was carried out with 4 Greek coast guard boats, 1 helicopter and 5 boats that were sailing in the area that day.

Until now there was no information about the nationalities of the survivors or their health condition.

tromaktiko (in greek)
chios news (in greek)
skai (in greek)
kathimerini (in greek)
news247 (in greek)
i-samos (in greek)
i-samos 2 (in greek)
cundemelazig (in turkish)
hellenic coast guard (in greek)
e-kathimerini (in english)

Greece, Press Realease, Turkey

Kayiki Press Release: End death at border now! Respect human life and death!

KAYIKI Press Release

20.06.2014

End death at border now! Respect human life and death!

We, the inhabitants of both sides of Aegean Sea, express our anger and our shock about the thousands of deaths of refugees and migrants in their effort to cross Europe. They are a direct result of the Europe Fortress policy: The sealing of the borders and the lack of any other way for these people to seek protection.

Dozens of tragic shipwrecks have taken place on both sides of the Aegean Sea since August 2012 after the completion of the border fence in Evros, the land borders between Greece and Turkey: In Farmakonisi, in Lesvos and in Samos, near and some along the border river Evros.

Small children, women and men; refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and Eritrea died in the Aegean Sea and in Evros trying to escape war, poverty and political persecution in their effort to cross the European borders. Their dead bodies were either found near the coastlines either they disappeared in the Aegean. Many of them were never identified, buried in unmarked graves in remote cemeteries and not according to their cultural and religious traditions. Family members who survived are weeping silently for the loss of their beloved. Others are still trying desperately to locate their missing ones. Continue reading Kayiki Press Release: End death at border now! Respect human life and death! →