04/01/2023: 42 people stranded on lesvos, 36 rescued by doctors without borders, 6 others pushed back

05.01.2023 / 19:58 / Eastern Med

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 4th of January 2023

Case name: 2023_01_04 - Eastern Med - 002

Situation: 42 people stranded on lesvos, 36 rescued by doctors without borders, 6 others pushed back

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Eastern Med, Aegean

Summary of the Case:

In the afternoon of the 4th of January, the Alarm Phone received a call from 42 people who arrived on Lesvos in the northwestern area of the island near Pedino. Among the 42 people were 15 children, a pregnant woman who felt sick, two babies and one disabled boy who was injured.
They reported that some of them were in urgent need of medical assistance due to health problems.
We immediately informed all relevant authorities.
In the next morning doctors without borders informed us about a rescue of 36 people, according to the people 6 of them were "still out".
During a call with the Turkish Coast Guard, they confirmed a rescue of 17 Afghan people in the night in Dikili area after pushback from from Lesvos. We have not been able to confirm by names if the people from this group were amongst the rescued, but we later made contact to a person from this group that had been pushed back after having been on land.

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