07/08: 36 people stuck on an island at the Greek Turkish border

08.08.2021 / 05:24 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 7th of August 2021

Case name: 20210807-AEG803*

Situation: 36 people stuck on an island in Evros/Meric River, Turkish Border guards deny the people to go to Turkey, Greek borderguards say they are not responsible as the people are in Turkey, 8 people manage to reenter Turkey and make their way back to Istanbul.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On the 7th of August we got informed at 11:00 CEST that a group of 36 people are stuck on a Turkish island in the Meriv/Evros river. The people write us via WhatsApp:

"This morning we tried to enter Greece, but we did not succeed because the speed of the water was strong, and when our boat stopped on the Turkish bank, the Turkish army came to us and filmed a video clip telling us our names and nationality and after this, by beating us and forcing us to go down to the river without a boat, they told us to go to Greece, and when we arrived on Earth we found ourselves on an island surrounded by water from all directions and we are stuck in it. The Turkish army is standing in front of us on the Turkish side and we can't enter Greece because we don't have a boat, even if we have a boat they will catch us, the Greek commandos, beat us and take us back to the island."

We informed the Turish Coastguards about the situation of the people, the Turkish Coastguards claim that the position is on the Greek side and that they are not responsible. The people on the island told us that a part of them went through the river back to the turkish side and were then forced by turkish military to go back onto the island:

"I called the Turkish side and they told me that we cannot help you. Go to the army and ask for help. The army does not allow us to cross, and they put us on the island. The army tells us go to Greece, you can't come to Turkey"

As the people didn't have a boat it was impossible for them to cross the river to Greece.

Until noon on the 8th of August we lost contact to the people on the island. At noon one person wrote: "I got out of the island and I am now inside Greece I will try to return to Turkey I am on my feet now until I get away from the Turkish army. If the Greek army catches me, they will beat us and take our phones, clothes and shoes." They split up into one group of eight people who was on their way to reenter Turkey and one group of 28 who were still on the island.

We loose contact again until 21:53 CEST when one person from the group that planned to reenter Turkey wrote us: "Sir, I would like to thank you very much for your concern for us. I managed to cross the river and escape from among the Turkish soldiers. I am now in the car and heading towards Istanbul. It was 3 very nervous nights. The Turkish soldiers threw us into the river and they hit us with stones. I watched the war in Syria, but I did not see such crime."

Unfortunately we never had a phone number to the people who remained on the island, therefore we do not know anything about their whereabouts up to now.

https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1424110649496543235

Last update: 20:12 Oct 11, 2021

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