09/08: 35 travellers transferred to liferafts south of Lesvos and finally picked up and brought back to Turkey.

10.08.2020 / 18:03 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 9th of August 2020
Case name: 2020_08_09-AEG696
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted to 35 travellers transferred to life rafts south of Lesvos
Status of WTM Investigation: concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean sea

Summary of the Case: On the 9th of August the Alarm Phone received a call from 35 travellers in distress on their way from Turkey to Greece. Amongst the travellers were several children as well as pregnant women. The travellers reported having been mistreated and transferred to life rafts. Along with this information they forwarded us pictures showing four life rafts full of people. The position sent by the travellers revealed that they were now in Turkish waters. After this, it was no longer possible for our shift team to reach the travellers. At 9.50h CEST we called the Turkish coastguard and alerted them to the distress of the travellers. They informed us that they were already aware of the case. At 10.19h the Turkish coastguard confirmed to us in an email that they had rescued the group of travellers, and in a phone call they later told us that they had in fact picked up 80 travellers at the position. It was not possible for us to restablish contact to the travellers, to get a more clear picture of what happened in this case. We are still investigating what exactly happened and will later add to this case report.

Last update: 16:01 Dec 07, 2020

Credibility:

Border police patrols
While the exact location of patrols is of course constantly changing, this line indicates the approximate boundary routinely patrolled by border guards’ naval assets. In the open sea, it usually correspond to the outer extent of the contiguous zone, the area in which “State may exercise the control necessary to prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws” (UNCLOS, art. 33). Data source: interviews with border police officials.
Coastal radars
Approximate radar beam range covered by coastal radars operating in the frame of national marine traffic monitoring systems. The actual beam depends from several different parameters (including the type of object to be detected). Data source: Finmeccanica.
Exclusive Economic Zone
Maritime area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea in which the coastal state exercises sovereign rights for the purposes of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living, the seabed and its subsoil and the superjacent waters. Its breadth is 200 nautical miles from the straight baselines from which the territorial sea is measured (UNCLOS, Arts. 55, 56 and 57). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans
Frontex operations
Frontex has, in the past few years, carried out several sea operations at the maritime borders of the EU. The blue shapes indicate the approximate extend of these operations. Data source: Migreurop Altas.
Mobile phone coverage
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network coverage. Data source: Collins Mobile Coverage.
Oil and gas platforms
Oil and gas platforms in the Mediterranean. Data source:
Search and Rescue Zone
An area of defined dimensions within which a given state is has the responsibility to co-ordinate Search and Rescue operations, i.e. the search for, and provision of aid to, persons, ships or other craft which are, or are feared to be, in distress or imminent danger. Data source: IMO availability of search and rescue (SAR) services - SAR.8/Circ.3, 17 June 2011.
Territorial Waters
A belt of sea (usually extending up to 12 nautical miles) upon which the sovereignty of a coastal State extends (UNCLOS, Art. 2). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans