Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 2nd of January 2024

Case name: 2024_01_02-Eastern Med - 002

Situation: 22 people on Farmakonisi, possibly pushed back to Turkey

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Eastern Med

Summary of the Case:
In the evening of the 2nd of January 2024, Alarm Phone was called by a worried relative, who told us about a group of 22 people that had arrived on the small island of Farmakonisi in the morning. The relative did not have contact with them for a while and had no GPS position from the group, but the group told them they were on Farmakonisi and needed medical help and support in applying for asylum in Greece. We were not able to get in direct contact with the group either.
At 20:33 CET we informed the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG) and other state authorities and organisations to the group via email.
At 20:43 we called the Port Authority of Leros, but the officer told us that they could not help us „with those things“ and we should call again next morning. During the night, neither we nor the relative could reach the people again.
In the morning of the 3rd of January at 11:22 CET, we called JRCC Piraeus, who told us that 40 people in a boat had been rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard east of Farmakonisi.
At 11:22 CET we called MRCC Ankara, who told us about 2 rescues in the area of Farmakonisi: 24 people in a boat and 8 people in a life raft. We gave the officer on the the phone number of the people on board to check if they are able to match it with that of the rescued people.
At 12:35 we called MRCC Ankara again and they told us they could not match the phone number. The fate of the people in distress remains unconfirmed as we have not been able to reach them since the incident.

Note: the position indicated here is approximate as we were not able to get an exact position from the group or the relative.