In the cover of darkness on March 2, a rubber boat tried to reach the northern shores of Chios, when it was brutally stopped and illegally pushed back by the Greek coast guard.
People onboard was robbed of their belongings, brutally beaten, thrown into two life rafts and left helplessly drifting in the middle of the sea.
The boat carrying 35 people had sat out from the opposite Turkish coast at night, in the cover of darkness to avoid being detected. Onboard was 24 adults and 11 small children, mixed nationalities from Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Irak and Palestine.
The boat was closing in on the northern shore of Chios when they were spotted by a vessel from the Greek Coast Guard patrolling the area. They tried to escape, but the small engine on the flimsy overloaded rubber boat was no match for a coast guard vessel, and they were stopped within minutes.
A second black smaller vessel arrived shortly after, all officers onboard both coast guard vessels was wearing black masks to cover their faces.
The rubber boat was stopped a few kilometers from land east of the village of Lagkada, Chios north east. Everyone was taken onboard the largest coast guard vessel, nobody was allowed to take any of their belongings with them. As soon as the rubber boat was empty, the officers punctured several holes in it, and the boat and all their belongings disappeared down in the sea.
People were ordered to sit on the front deck and look down, no talking was allowed. One by one the officers searched the people in the group, many were ordered to undress, also the women, in the search for hidden valuables, money and especially phones.
A woman refused to take of her clothes, the masked officers undressed her by force, and broke her arm in several places in the process, she was screaming in pain, her screams didn’t seem to bother the officers at all.
Those who refused were brutally beaten, one of the victims said “ they acted like wild animals, so brutal, they seemed to enjoy it, everyone was so scared”.
After everyone was thoroughly searched, the coast guard vessel headed out to sea towards Turkey, the group knew what was about to happen, “we begged them not to take us back to Turkey, but they just told us to shut up and laughed” one of the victims said.
What followed next we have seen so many times before in this area, people were forced into two life rafts, and left helplessly drifting in the middle of the sea in the dark.
One of the victims, a woman, had managed to hid her phone, she tried to call for help but she had no reception. She took a picture towards Chios, time was 05.30, over three hours since they were stopped by the Greek Coast Guard.
At first light they could see the Greek coast guard vessel in the distance, watching, the life rafts had drifted apart. They tried to call for help again, still no reception.
From a video taken from the raft and description from the victims, we have been able to identified the two coast guard vessels, the first was a Lambro 57 coastal patrol vessel.
The second vessel was a Rafner 1100 Tactical Patrol RIB, belonging to HCG special forces, a boat we have seen in action several times in the past in relation to pushbacks.
A larger vessel approached the two drifting life rafts, at this point they believed they would be rescued, unfortunately this didn’t happen.
From a video we can see the vessel a short distance from the drifting life rafts, only watching, no effort was made to initiate rescue.
The vessel was the “Butrinti”, a Stan Patrol 4207 patrol vessel from the Albanian coast guard, ID number P 134, participating in operation “Sea Guard”, a NATO maritime security operation in the Mediterranean.
A NATO vessel on duty in the area only watched, while 35 people, 11 of them small children, were drifting in two life rafts in front of them, no rescue attempt, even do it was obvious that they desperately needed to be rescued.
The obligation to rescue people in distress at see seems to be different depending on your nationality and status. We firmly believe that, if these 35 had been Europeans drifting in life rafts from a yacht, rescue would have been initiated immediately and without question. This group was not Europeans, but refugees, and for that reason, no rescue attempt was made, it’s quite unbelievable.
If the decision not rescue the people from the life rafts was made solely by the captain of the Albanian NATO vessel Butrinti, or orders were given from operational command of Allied Maritime Command in Northwood, United Kingdom, only NATO can answer to.
It is such a tragic irony, considering how many Albanians have drowned trying to cross to Greece and Italy in late 1990, when communism in Albania started to fall.
“According to article 98 of the UNCLOS, it is the duty of the master of a ship to render assistance to any person found at sea in danger of being lost” and to carry out non-discriminatory rescue operations regardless of the nationality of the rescued person, “Parties shall ensure that assistance be provided to any person in distress at sea. They shall do so regardless of the nationality or status of such a person or the circumstances in which that person is found”.
In this case, and it other previous cases, it seems like international maritime laws do not apply for NATO, and that they do discriminate based on nationality, status and circumstances.
The German navy ship A1411 Berlin, on NATO missions in the Aegean Sea, has on several occasions, been a passive observer to pushbacks performed by Greek authorities.
In this new case involving an Albanian NATO vessel, they did not only observe a pushback, they watched while vulnerable people drifted helplessly in life rafts straight in front of them, neglecting to rescue them.
The group of 35 drifting in two life rafts east of Chios, was eventually rescued by the Turkish coast guard after helplessly drifting for hours at sea.