26/06: 79 travellers pushed back and found in 3 life rafts off the Coast of AYDIN/Kuşadası

27.06.2022 / 11:36 / Eastern Med

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 22nd of June 2022

Case name: 2022_06_26-EasternMed924

Situation: 79 travellers pushed back and found in 3 life rafts off the Coast of AYDIN/Kuşadası

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Eastern Med

Summary of the Case:

In the late evening of 26th of June 2022, the Alarm Phone shift team got alerted to a boat in distress between Mykonos and Ikaria.

At 20:30h CEST we called JRCC Piraeus and gave them the first position received from the travellers. At 20:41h CEST we informed the Hellenic Coast Guard additionally by email. When we called JRCC Piraeus again at 20:42h CEST, they confirmed the reception of the email and hung up.

The travellers continued sending desperate voice messages, asking for help. They stated that one girl is dead in the water. They reported that they tried to call 112 and also 108 themselves, but that someone just said "fuck you". In a call at 21:01h CEST the travellers reported to us that they could see a boat and they were seemingly making noise to attract it. From what we could observe on marinetrafic, this was the oil tanker MARAN HERMIONE being on-site – however, without intervening.

We sent updated emails at 21:17h CEST and called JRCC Piraeus again at 21:18h CEST. The operator just stated that they are "investigating". Again on 21:33h CEST we updated all authorities about the distress.

At 21:37h CEST we tweeted about the situation:
“According to the people, when they called 112 and 108 to ask for help, they were told "fuck you". @HCoastGuard still claims to be "investigating". Are they about to allow another tragedy to happen in the Aegean?”

At 21:48h CEST the travellers called again. They said that the police arrived with a boat fitting for five people and tried to take 20 of them onboard. Then PoB explained that they didn't want to go to Turkey. Then the call cut. According to the travellers the Greek coastguard said that they "have to go back to Turkey". They explained that they are very afraid to get pushed back, because this would be their second pushback. Throughout the next hours we stayed in touch with the travellers.

At 01:10h CEST we called again JRCC Pireaus - they said again that they are investigating and hung up.

At 01:47h CEST we sent an email to authorities explaining that “the people on the boat are telling us, that there is a patrol boat from Greek coastguard that arrived and is taking people on board. The latest position we received from them is: 37°20'21.0"N, 25°43'56.1"E @ 23.11 CEST, 26 June This position is Greek waters, so they have to be rescued to Greece.”

After this we lost the contact to the travellers.

We later found out that the Turkish Coast Guard has found the people in the morning of 27 June in Turkish waters. At 27 June at 9:30h CEST they found 79 people (60 Egyptian, 12 Afghans, 6 Syrians, 1 Palestinans and 3 Turkish citizens) drifting on 3 life rafts off the coast of Aydin/Kuşadası.

We never managed to reestablish the contact to the travellers.

https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1541135535376310272

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