Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 1st of September 2015

Case name: 2015_09_1-AEG57
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 14 cases of distress in the Aegean Sea
Status of WTM Investigations: Concluded
Place of Incidents: Aegean Sea

Summary of the case: On Tuesday the 1st of September 2015, the Alarm Phone dealt with 14 emergency cases in the Aegean Sea, mostly near Lesvos Island and on Farmakonisi Island. Around midnight, we were alerted by a contact person and informed that a group of women and children had landed on the deserted Greek island of Farmakonisi. Farmakonisi is indeed an island that is only reserved for military purposes. Civilians usually have no access to it. Fifteen minutes later, a member of Nawal Soufi's activist collective called us about the same case. She passed on GPS coordinates and a phone number of the group who had landed on Farmakonisi and told us that they were without food and water. We immediately informed the coastguard of Mytilene. At 6:50am we sent a message to the group on the island, since we could not reach them by phone. We also called the Greek coastguard again. However, they told us that they were not responsible for people in distress on land. At 9.10am we reached the UNHCR Greece, informed them about the case and passed on the contact details of the group. We were told that the group would probably be picked up by the military and that that they would probably transfer them to Leros.

Early in the morning we were alerted to a 2nd distress case via WhatsApp. Approximately 60 people, including at least 7 children were in a leaky boat in Turkish waters. The travellers in distress asked us to call for help. We tried several numbers of the Turkish coastguard, but could not get hold of them. We thus tried to get back to the travellers, but could not reach them anymore. Shortly after 7am we tried one last time to reach the group, but the number was no longer available. A couple of days later, we called them again and got the confirmation that they had been saved to Turkey.

Parallel to the second case, we received a WhatsApp message with the position and phone number of a 3rd vessel. Like the other vessel, they were still in Turkish waters and reported that they had been attacked at sea. The Greek coastguard said that they were not in charge. We thus called the Hellenic Rescue Team who told us that the travellers should call the international emergency number 112. At 3:02am we received a message by another contact person about the same case. This contact person asked us to inform the Turkish or Greek coastguard about the case. For about one hour, the shift team tried several times to call the Turkish coastguard about case 2 and 3, but without success. In the morning, shortly after 7:00am, we called the number of the travellers and were told that they were safe and that they were taken back to Turkey by the Turkish coastguard. Unfortunately we lost the contact, so up to now we could not get more details about the attacks they reported about.

At about 9.00am the Alarm Phone received an e-mail about a 4th distress case with coordinates from Nawal's collective and a call from another contact person about the same case. We could locate the boat between Bodrum, Turkey and Kos, Greece, but had to wait for the phone number of the travellers. We informed the Greek coastguard. The travellers could not be reached and we could not get a fiinal confirmation of their rescue.

We were informed about a 5th case through a call by a contact person. She passed on a phone number and coordinates of a vessel. We could not reach the vessel but forwarded their contact details to the Greek coastguard. At 4.30pm the contact person informed us that the travellers were back in Turkey, but safe.

Nawal's collective informed us via Facebook about a 6th vessel that had left Izmir/Turkey at 3am, carrying 11 women and 9 children. Apparently the travellers, especially the children were in a really bad condition and asked for urgent help. We managed to reach the travellers and informed the Greek coastguard about their situation. They, in turn, could not reach the group and told us that the travellers should call them directly. In a renewed contact with the boat, we were told that they were running out of fuel and that water was entering the boat. We informed the Greek coastguard about the urgent distress. Until the evening we lost contact with the boat, but eventually we were informed that they had been rescued by the Greek coastguard.

The information about the 7th case came from a contact person on Lesvos, who observed a boat which had stopped moving. The travellers were waving for help. We were told that a Frontex boat had approached them but had left. We informed the Greek coastguard, but could neither give them a direct contact, nor coordinates. As we had no direct contact with the boat, but only with people observing the situation from a beach, we could not get a final confirmation of their rescue.

At 1am the Alarm Phone was contacted by WhatsApp about the 8th distress case of the day in the Aegean Sea. 40 people were stuck on a boat with a broken engine. When we contacted the travellers, they told us that the engine was working again. At 3pm, we received information about the same case through a different contact. We informed the Greek coastguard in Mytilene. At 5.45pm they confirmed the rescue of this boat.

At 2pm a WhatsApp message from a French number gave us the position of a boat close to Eftalou, Northern Lesvos - our 9th Aegean case. We informed a local activist, who promised to go look for the boat with binoculars. At half past two, we received another message with a contact of the boat. We reached the travellers, who told us that their engine was broke and that they could no longer move. They also informed us that they were 35 persons on board. We informed the Greek coastguard and kept regular contact with the vessel. At 4pm we contacted the person that had informed us about the case. She told us that the travellers had arrived safely in Greece.

At 3:45pm the Alarm Phone received a call in Greek about a 10th boat close to Molyvos, Lesvos, Greece with mainly women and children on board. We could not reach them, as the phone seemed to have been switched off. The shift team called the Greek coastguard, who noted down the coordinates. However, at quarter to six they still had not found the vessel. Probably the boat was intercepted by the Turkish coastguard.

At approximately 6.30pm, we were alerted to the 11th distress situation, a vessel with 54 travellers on board. We did not receive their phone number and could not find out more about their situation. We informed the Greek coastguard. At 7pm we received another message informing us that the boat had been rescued by the Turkish coastguard.

At 9.31pm we received a WhatsApp message about another distress situation, our 12th case. A boat was in distress near Lesvos, carrying 38 persons. We did not have a telephone number of the travellers, but contacted the Greek coastguard of Lesvos and the UNHCR to pass on the coordinates. As we had no direct contact person on board this case remained without a final confirmation.

One hour later we received a call, informing us about a boat with many children on board, on the way from Turkey to Farmakonisi. Apparently the boat had problems with their engine. At 11.34pm we called the Samos Port Authorities, as we could not reach the Greek coastguard. The Port authorities agreed to take down the coordinates and to see if a rescue vessel was available. At half past midnight, we received another message with new coordinates and the information that the boat was now sinking. We immediately called the Port Authority of Samos, who told us to call the Port Authority of Patmos, who in turn referred us to the Port Authority in Leros. At 1am we received a message telling us that the travellers had been saved by a police boat and that they had safely arrived on Farmakonisi.

At quarter to midnight, we received the last alert of the day, our 14th case: via a WhatsApp message we received the contact to a boat on the way from Turkey to Lesvos. As we could not reach the travellers directly, we called the Greek coastguard, who did not want to take the coordinates, but told us to tell the travellers to call 112. We informed the Hellenic Rescue Team and the UNHCR about the case. At 00.50 am we were told that the travellers had been intercepted by the Turkish coastguard.