06/05: 23 travellers on Lesvos Island, pushed-back on life-rafts by Greek authorities

07.05.2022 / 11:51 / Eastern Med

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 6th of May 2022

Case name: 2022_05_06-AEG893

Situation:23 people landed on Lesvos, 18 people were pushed back to Turkey, the rest hid and was brought to camp.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Eastern Med

Summary of the Case:

In the late hours of the 6th of May 2022, Alarm Phone was called by a concerned relative, alerting us to a group of 23 people including 13 children and minors, in distress who were on Lesvos island. They said that group was very afraid of being pushed back, and sent us a list of their names and ages. We didn’t manage to establish contact with the travellers, however at 03:45 they called us explaining that they had been pushed-back to the sea by Greek authorities and were left adrift on life rafts. We alerted the authorities, and the Turkish Coastguard confirmed that they rescued 18 travellers at 05:29, who they said were "pushed-back from Greek side". Later that afternoon we found out that the others people managed to hide and then got taken to a camp on the island and registered there.

We condemn the illegal actions of the Hellenic Coast Guard which is repeatedly creating castaways at sea & endangers people’s lives!

Twitter/news link: https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1522901867856109568; https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1522902384724353024; https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1522902603704717313

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