Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations –5th of June 2022

Case name: 2022_06_05-EasternMed911

Situation: One person kept hostage in Greek house, rescued and transferred to camp.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: In the morning of Sunday the 5th of June 2022, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a relative to a person who was being kept hostage in a house in the Greek city Thessaloniki. The person had been locked up for four days and had tried to reach the police, but nobody had come to their aid. We contacted the local police station and alerted them to the situation, providing them with the address and exact description of the persons location. They confirmed that they would send someone to deal with the situation. The hostage told us that he was receiving death threats and was communicating in hiding. For hours, no one came to the rescue of the hostage, who told us that their situation was getting increasingly difficult. At 17.42 CEST we were informed by an officer that they had carried out an operation and that one person had been rescued from the premises while those keeping him hostage had been arrested.

Despite wishing to claim asylum, the person who had been kept hostage was imprisoned without his phone, and the police told us a deportation procedure had been commenced. Through local networks we were able to find a lawyer who could represent the person and appeal their case. The appeal was accepted and the person was transferred to a camp for asylum seekers.