Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 30th June 2020
Case name: 2020_06_30-AEG683
Situation: 9 travellers were pushed-back to Turkey by the Greek coastguard.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: In the morning of Tuesday the 30th of June we were alerted to a boat in distress carrying 9 travellers, including 5 children. The boat was in Greek Search and Rescue (SAR) zone, it was very small and in danger of capsizing. At 09:25h we alerted the Greek coastguard in Piraeus by phone and then sent an email. At 11:14h a relative of the travellers told us that the boat was still at sea waiting for a rescue. We were also told that the boat had been pulled by the Greek coastguard to the Turkish SAR zone. The boat was in bad conditions and some people were reportedly injured. At 12:00h we received a GPS position which showed that the travellers were in Turkish waters. At 12:25h our shift team spoke to the Greek coastguard in Piraeus who told us that they have one asset and the Turkish coastguard has two assets close to the boat. Further, they told us that they had gone to the position we had sent them (in Greek SAR) but the boat was not there and had probably drifted in Turkish waters because of the weather. According to the officer as the boat was in Turkish territorial waters, the Turkish coastguard had responsibility. At 12:31h we sent an email with all the information we had to both Greek and Turkish coastguards. When one minute later we called the Turkish coastguard they told us that they had just rescued the boat, they confirmed this information at 12:41h via email. At 13:21h the travelers themselves confirmed that they had been brought back to Turkey.

We are still investigating the detailed developments and will include potential updates into this report.