10/06: Around 65 people arrived to Lesvos, 4 arrived at camp, 18 pushed back, the rest still missing

11.06.2022 / 16:49 / Eastern Med

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations –10th of June 2022

Case name: 2022_06_10-Eastern Med913

Situation: Around 65 travelers in need of assistance after arriving to the south of Lesvos. 4 were brought to the refugee camp, 18 were pushed back while we were not able to establish what happened to the remaining travelers.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Eastern Med

Summary of the Case: On Friday the 10th of June 2022, the Alarmphone shift team was alerted by a relative of a group of around 65 travelers who had arrived to the south of Lesvos after crossing the Aegean Sea. The travelers were wet, cold, exhausted and some of them sick and they needed assistance. We got in touch with several of the travelers and learned that they had split up into smaller groups and were therefore in different locations. We alerted the Greek authorities to the situation, relaying all the information we had. During the day, we stayed in contact with the travelers, many of whom were unable to move due to injuries. At 17.00 CEST the relative informed us that four of the travelers had reached the refugee camp. For days we were not able to establish what happened to the remaining travelers. The Turkish coastguard informed us about a pushback of 18 people which we think belonged to this group. For the rest, their fate remains unknown.

Tweets about the case:
https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1535197651792187395

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