Tag Archives: distress at sea

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! →

Greece, Media, Press Realease

press release / w2eu: SCREENED BY FRONTEX AFTER TEN HOURS IN THE SEA

Mitilini, Greece

SCREENED BY FRONTEX AFTER TEN HOURS IN THE SEA:
Forgery of documents – who does it and how?

In the early morning of the 15th of September 2013 twelve refugees from Syria were rescued by the fisher boat Kapetan Stratis and the cargo ship YALKER (see earlier post). After this rescue operation and act of humanitarian support a vessel of the Greek Coast Guard took the rescued people in order to bring them to the Port of Mytilene (Lesvos). Local media took pictures, a video was uploaded on youtube. The Coast Guard utilised the brave work of the sailors to present themselves as life savers.

This was only the image for the public: After the “photo shooting” the refugees went through the so called “screening” of the European Border Agency FRONTEX. The authorities instead of calling a trauma therapist or first aid for the exhausted survivors who had been nine hours swimming in the sea not knowing if they would survive, brought them to FRONTEX. Even the first food in Greece was given to the hungry by supporters from the island. The foreign officers operating with EU-funds on the Turkish-Greek border interviewed the survivors immediately to find out the “real nationalities”. The so called “screening” is a tool to check the identity of refugees and migrants which has been criticised on several levels by a lot of human rights supporters like i.e. the German NGO Pro Asyl. To use this tool directly after a case of heavy trauma comes indeed close to torture.

To give an example of this kind of inhuman behaviour we report what we heard from two of the refugees. One of them was not able to swim and was held by other refugees above the water level. Even three days after one could see the injuries on his throat and legs that came from the heroic live saving measures of the others (see photo below). A German psychologist and trauma therapist supported them upon release from the Coast Guard.
His diagnosis is clear: They suffer from Post traumatic Stress Reaction (ICD10, F 43.0). Nevertheless, both were put under pressure brutally by the FRONTEX officer and his translator. He shouted on them, they were threatened with 6 to 12 months imprisonment as a penalty for “forgery of documents”. The translator tried to force them to sign that they are not from Syria .

injuries from the clothes after 9 hours in the sea on Wahids body
injuries from the clothes after 9 hours in the sea on Wahids body

Instead of giving them documents to continue their journey together with the other ten traumatized refugees, these two victims of the “Screening” were imprisoned by the Greek authorities with the aim to deport them . Everything other than giving them papers and freedom is an act of disrespect to and violation of their human rights.

These people need support, no prison!

We demand the immediate release of Sami and Wahid, survivors of the ship accident of the 15th September 2013 near Lesvos!

w2eu – welcome to europe

Greece

Goodbye party for survivors overshadowed by arrest of two of them

goodybye lesvos! only 10 of the refugees could say that...
goodybye lesvos! only 10 of the refugees could say that…

The twelve Syrian refugees that survived the distress at sea on September 15th near Lesvos left the island yesterday with a smile on their lips and a tear in their eyes. Finally free to go, they had to leave back two of their group who were arrested following a change of nationalities due to Frontex screening despite the fact that all of them were severely traumatised. The two arrested were brought to the local police station. One of them had only survived due to the help of two others of his group who hold him 9 hours over the water level as he didn’t know how to swim.
goodbye said also the rest of PIKPa to the survivors, yet not aware the bad news.
goodbye said also the rest of PIKPA to the survivors, yet not aware of the bad news.