Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 20th of January 2022

Case name: 20220120-AEG855
Situation: 18 people pushed back by Hellenic Coast Guard, their engine and and fuel stolen, then left adrift, later rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard to Bodrum.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Eastern Med

Summary of the Case:
Just before midnight on the 20th of January, Alarm Phone received a call from a relative, alerting us to a group of 5 women, 2 children and 11 men in distress after being brutally intercepted by the Hellenic Coast Guard. According to the testimony of one of the people on board, the travelers had been in Turkish waters, south of Kara Ada island, when the Hellenic Coast Guard stopped them, threatened them with weapons and sticks, then removed their engine, stole their fuel, and left them adrift with nothing.

We immediately tried to establish direct contact with the people on board, however without avail. At 23:47 CET we contacted the Turkish Coast Guard and gave the GSP co-ordinates. At 1:50 CET the Turkish Coast Guard informed us that they had rescued all 18 travelers and were taking them to Bodrum.
Later that day we received a call from the travelers, explaining that they are safely on land now, however they were taken to a camp in Bodrum where the rooms are flooded with water and the conditions are extremely unsanitary.

A translated testimony from one of the travelers: We had been driving for 6 kilometres, and that after 6 kilometres we were discovered by the Greeks, they had caught us when we were still in Turkish waters, nether-the-less, we were attacked by the Greek coast guards, I think they were the Greek Coast Guards because they were speaking in both Greek and English. They threatened us with weapons, they took our motor away as always, and they took the petrol as well, and then they left us like that in the water. We were 18people, 2 people from Lebanon and 16 from Palestine. We hadn’t been hit, and both our telephones nor our wallets were not taken away. But we were afraid, which is why we didn’t film nor take photos. In the end, before they started driving away, [the Hellenic Coast Guard] showed us the middle finger to say “Fuck you, we let you die here”. Then our contact person called the Turkish coast guard and then after one or two hours we got picked up.