Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 03rd of May 2024
Case name: 2024_05_03_EASTERN MED - 178
Situation: 22 people stranded on an islet on the Evros river
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Eastern Med

Summary of the Case:
In the evening of the 3rd of June, the Alarm Phone received an alert from a group of 22 people from Syria who were stranded on an islet in the Evros river at the Greek/Turkish land border. They told us that they had been pushed back to this islet by Greek authorities 5 days before. They tried to call 112 but couldn't reach anybody. There were 6 children and elderly people in the group who they feared might die if they did not get help soon. They reported to have run out of food and water and asked for urgent rescue. We sent an email alert to all competent authorities, Frontex and NGOs. During the two following days, we kept calling Greek authorities, asking them to rescue those people. Greek police claimed that they was a rescue operation ongoing, but people told us that nobody came. Then, we lost contact with the group from the 5th of May to the 8th of May. The 8th of May in the afternoon, we re-established contact with the 22 people. They told us they were sent back to Turkey and were detained. They were at the moment of the call, stranded again on the Evros river, on the Greek river bank. We immediately alerted again Greek authorities. Then we lost again contact with the people, and we were unable to confirm what happened to them.