Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations - 5th of August 2015

Case name: 2015_08_05-AEG33
Situation: Group of travellers stuck on Farmakonisi Island for days, rescued
Status of WTM Investigations: Concluded
Place of Incidents: Aegean Sea, Greece

Summary of the case: On Wednesday the 5th of August 2015, in the morning, the Alarm Phone was alerted to a group of travellers that had left Turkey and stranded on the Greek island of Farmakonisi. We received their GPS position but were not able to reach them directly. At approximately 10.55am, we spoke to the UNHCR Greece and they confirmed that they had received a call from a man located in Sweden who had told them about the group of travellers. They said it was likely that they would be found quickly due to the small size of the island. We agreed that they would contact the local authorities on the neighbouring island of Leros to alert them to the group.

At about mid-day, the travellers contacted us via WhatsApp and reported that they had been exposed to the heat for many hours and were without any water. They asked for urgent rescue. Shortly afterwards the UNHCR informed us that the Leros police was aware of several groups on Farmakonisi. The group then told us that they were 70 people, including 11 women and children. We then contacted the police station on Samos Island, as advised by the local authorities on Leros. They said that they would contact the coastguard which would rescue them and transfer them to the harbour police which would then register them and pass them on to the police. We called the harbour authorities on Leros Island who were unwilling to give us any information. We then also contacted the Hellenic Rescue Team to inform them about the situation and told the stranded group to call 112. In the afternoon, at around 5.11pm, the harbour authorities on Leros stated that the group was expected to be brought to Leros by a military vessel.

On the 6th of August the Leros harbour authorities told us that they were continuously transferring people from Farmakonisi to Leros but they could not confirm whether this was also the case for the group in question. Through the news we learned that the Greek coastguard has rescued 533 people on the 5th of August in the Aegean Sea, including Farmakonisi (source 1). In the afternoon, we were contacted by the group again. They said that they now were about 200 people. Following their account, families with small children had already been transferred but the men were still stuck on the island, without being given food. Afterwards they could not be reached again. The UNHCR told us that the Leros harbour authorities had capacity problems and would need to focus on the most vulnerable first. We found out later on that the group had been transferred to Leros Island.