Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 24th of February 2021

Case name: 2021_02_24-AEG748

Situation: 11 stranded (2 elderly women (1 with serious health issues), 2 children)on Lesvos were picked up by the local civil protection unit and brought to a police station

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On the 24th of February 2021 in the morning, the Alarm Phone was called by a person who reported that her aunt had arrived on Lesvos island with a group of eleven travelers, among them two elderly women and two children. They had arrived at 02:00h CET in the morning already. The person who called us reported that her aunt had health issued and they were afraid to be pushed back to Turkey. We finally managed to receive a GPS location and a phone number from the travelers. They were in the north-west of the island. We noted down the names of the travelers. At 10:12h CET, we informed the authorities on Lesvos about their need of help and their wish to claim asylumand sent the GPS location of the group. At 10:17h CET, we called the coast guard’s central office in Piraeus. They said they would go and search for the people. At 10:29h CET, we also informed the port authority of Mytilene, and the UNHCR at 10:41h CET. At 10:54h CET, we asked the person who had called us for news. She reported that the travelers were cold and hungry. At 13:40h CET, there were still no news, no one had picked the travelers up. At 15:27h CET, we received a new GPS location. Our shift team transferred it to the authorities. At 16:00h CET, we were informed by the relative that the group had been picked up by a car. On a picture they sent us, we could see that it was a vehicle of the local civil protection unit. At 17:25h CET, we learned from the Rescue Sub-Centre (RSC) Mytilene that the travelers were at the police station.

Twitter chronology

11:01h CET https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1364515685930569729

16:26h CET https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1364597701325783041