30/08: 105 people in distress on the way from Turkey to Italy

31.08.2021 / 20:50 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 30th of August 2021

Case name: 20210830-AEG812

Situation: 105 people in a sinking boat, rescued by Greek Coastguard, unlclear if pushbacked afterwards

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On the 30th of August at 09:29 CEST we were informed about 105 people going from Turkey to Italy. After several tries, we reached the people on the boat who told us that water was entering their boat, they asked us to call the Greek Coastguard. The Greek Coastguards said they would do something. At 11:15 CEST the people on the boat told us that the Greek Coastguard is already there since two hours without doing anything. At 13:48 we had another call with the people on the boat who were crying because a lot of water was entering their boat and the Greek Coastguard still didn’t do anything. At 14:56 CEST the people on the boat texted us that the Greek Coastguard finally took them on their vessel. AT 18:05 the Greek Coastguard claimed they would still be searching for the boat, but there is footage of a coastguard vessel approaching the boat. At 18:31 we write an email to the Greek Coastguard kindly telling them that they should not pushback the people. At 19:23 a relative informed us that the people on the move were arrested in Greece by the Greek Coastguard. Afterwards we could not establish contact with the people again, so until now we do not know if they were rescued or pushed back, while the Greek authorities refused to tell us what happened.

Twitter timeline:

https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1432315102590550017
Last update: 20:51 Oct 11, 2021
Credibility: UP DOWN 0
Layers »
  • 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