Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigation – 3rd of June 2015

Case name: 2015_06_03-AEG12
Situation: People in distress near Chios Island; People in distress after arrival on Lesvos Island/Greece
Status of WTM Investigation: No final confirmation received
Place of Incident: Chios Island and Lesvos Island, Greece

Summary of the Case: In the early hours of Wednesday the 3rd of June, at around 3am, our Alarm Phone shift team was contacted by a person located in Germany who informed us about a friend of his who had just arrived on the island of Lesvos/Greece as part of a group of 40 persons and needed help. Our contact person believed that they had already reached land and passed on a phone number which, however, could not be reached.

Shortly afterwards, at around 3.30am, we were contacted by someone who stated that he was amongst 40 people, including 3 women and 3 babies, on a rubber vessel near the Greek island of Chios. He said that their engine had broken and asked us to contact the Greek coastguard. Our shift team turned to the Greek coastguard and in a later phone conversation with the passengers in distress they confirmed that the coastguard had successfully reached them by phone.

At around 4.40am, the Greek coastguard stated that the vessel had reached Chios Island by themselves but, about an hour later, contacted us again to ask whether we had received a confirmation of their arrival on land as there were several vessels in distress near Chios. While the phone of our contact person on the vessel was ringing, nobody picked up.

In the early afternoon the person who alerted us to the group of refugees on Lesvos called us and stated that the group was somewhere on the island and without food and water. At around 3pm he passed on coordinates of the people on land. It seemed as if the group was close to a small village on the island.

The case of the disoriented group on the island of Lesvos is a reflection on what is currently occurring there, with thousands stranded on the island without receiving the needed support. On the 3rd of June alone, about 2000 refugees arrived on Lesvos. Many of them are lost and need to find their way to local villages and the city of Mytilene by themselves. These situations are very distressing, with many of the newly arrived suffering from hunger, thirst and sometimes injuries, and having to walk for hours while being continuously exposed to the sun.

The few newly erected tent spaces offered are already overcrowded so that many have to sleep rough. The local Greek population is openly dissuaded from supporting the refugees and threatened to be punished with fines by the local police authorities.

Donations to civil society groups supporting the refugees such as the ‘Village of All Together’ are desperately needed and can be made here:

1. VILLAGE OF ALL TOGETHER


Donations for PIKPA


Michael AIVALIOTIS

ETHNGRAA

IBAN: GR7901107620000076271413353


2. NGO AGALIA:

GR 5401405990599002101026620

Alpha Bank