22/03: Group of travellers without food, water and shelter on Greek island of Kastellorizo; one boat rescued east of Lesvos

24.03.2016 / 16:43 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 22nd of March 2016

Case name: 2016_03_22-AEG240
Situation: 22/03: Group of travellers without food, water and shelter on Greek island of Kastellorizo; one boat rescued east of Lesvos
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Tuesday the 22nd of March 2016, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 2 groups of travellers in distress in the Aegean Sea. One group was rescued by the Greek coastguard east of the island of Lesvos, while another group was stranded on the island of Kastellorizo and not provided with food, water or shelter for more than one day.

At 7.27am, a contact person provided the Alarm Phone with GPS coordinates and two phone numbers of a boat in distress east of the Greek island of Lesvos, with 63 people on board (case 1). In the following minutes, we tried to reach the travellers via phone and WhatsApp, but without success. Thus, at 7.50am we called the Greek coastguard and forwarded the position of the boat. Shortly afterwards, the contact person confirmed to us that the boat had already been rescued by the Greek coastguard.

At 8.30pm of the same day, a contact person informed the Alarm Phone about a group of around 30 people who had stranded on the Greek island of Kastellorizo and had been without any food or water for several hours (case 2). As their GPS position showed them in a village of the island, we informed a local supporter about the group and forwarded the group’s position to him. He told us at 11pm that friends of him had visited the given position but had not found any one in need of help. Nevertheless, he also told us that the position pointed to the island’s city hall, where the authorities had accommodated stranded travellers in the previous weeks, but that this accommodation center was closed in the meantime. During the night, neither the contact person nor we were able to reach the travellers again. On the next day at midday, the contact person alerted us again to this group. He sent us the phone number of one of the travellers, which we forwarded to the local supporter. Meanwhile, another contact person posted on Facebook, that another group of 54 people had arrived on the island and apparently nobody knew what would happen to them. Because on this day the deal between the EU and Turkey became active, it was still unclear whether they would be sent back to Turkey, allowed to move on to the larger island of Rhodes or were forced to stay on Kastellorizo. In any case, no reception facilities were open on the island. At 4pm, we informed the UNHCR Greece about the stranded travellers via email and forwarded the phone number we had received. At 4.30pm we were able to talk to the UNHCR directly and asked for further advises on how to react in this case. The person we spoke to promised to talk with her colleagues on Rhodes and offered to call the local authorities on the island of Kastellorizo herself. We agreed that we would first try to reach the travellers again. With the help of an Arabic translator, we were able to speak to the group again at 5.10pm. They were very desperate and asked us to alert the local authorities, as they were not able to stay on the street without any food or water any longer. At 6.20pm we talked to the local police on the island and were told that they would not do anything about the group, because they were awaiting instructions from the Greek government. At 6.30pm we wrote an email to UNHCR Greece and forwarded this information to them. At 9.45pm a contact person informed us that the group had been picked up by the authorities and had been provided with accommodation. On the next day at 9.30am, we called the phone number of the group again and were told by one of the travellers that they had been brought to a shelter, where they had stayed for the night. The authorities had picked up families with children, but the remaining travellers had not been informed about where the families had been brought. At 10am we talked to UNHCR Greece again and forwarded the phone number of the traveller. We were told that the UNHCR was already in contact with the travellers. Afterwards, we did not receive any further information about the well-being of the travellers.
Last update: 12:26 Apr 12, 2016
Credibility: UP DOWN 0
Layers »
  • 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