25/12: Three young men stranded on Lesvos

26.12.2020 / 12:17 / Aegean Sea

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 25th of December 2020
Case name: 2020_12_25-AEG742
Situation: Three young men stranded on Lesvos
Status of WTM Investigation: Ongoing
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case:
At 07:39h CET on 25 December, we were contacted by three young men from the Congo. They had become separated from a group who were being taken to the quarantine centre on Lesvos. Having been attacked and pushed back by the Greek authorities in a previous attempt to cross, they were afraid of a repeat. We emailed their location, their identities and their wish to claim asylum to the Greek authorities, copying in Frontex, NATO, the ombudsman, UNHCR and various international NGOs present on Lesvos.

We had no further contact with the group after 10:42h but we are hopeful that they made it to the quarantine camp and did not experience a second pushback.

If we find any updates, we will include them in this report.

Last update: 15:38 Mar 30, 2021

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