Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 8th of January 2024
Case name: 2024_01_08-EASTERN MED - 011
Situation: 7 people stranded on Symi, found by police and brought to detention center on Kos
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Eastern Med

Summary of the Case:

In the morning of the 8th of January, Alarm Phone was contacted by a worried relative, alerting to a group of 7 men in distress in stranded on Symi island in Greece. We managed to establish direct contact to the group and they told us that among them are two elderly and sick people. They were very afraid of being pushed back by Greek authorities.
At 12:02 CET we alerted the relevant authorities including the Symi Police Department and the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG) about the group.
In the next hours, we could not get into contact with the group anymore. After a few calls with uncooperative officers, we finally learned at 20:18 CET that the people are at the Symi police station.

A couple of weeks later, we got in contact with one person of the group again. He told us he was now in Kos in a detention center, where the conditions were terrible and he was denied access to the medical care he needed. He reported that other people were being deported directly from the detention center and was afraid that would happen to him.
We were relieved to hear later that he and his family were out of the detention center.

Twitter: https://x.com/alarm_phone/status/1744321866636882286