June 13th.
Boat with 32 refugees from Afghanistan incl. 11 women one of which 8-months pregnant & 11 children in distress North of Lesvos. They cannot move forward & some are injured. They are waiting for rescue since our first call at 6:34 CET. Greek Coast Guard vessel 080 and others are already at the scene. The people in distress ask for rescue, medical help and international protection.
Denial of rescue is unlawful & puts lives in danger! The Turkish coastguard is present but tells us that they cannot intervene as the boat is in Greek water. We demand immediate rescue to Greece! These scenes of non-assistance and violence at Europe’s Aegean border have to stop!
We call on civil society to raise their voices and pressurise the Greek authorities to rescue. Europe, stop watching people suffer. Human rights are systematically being breached but Europe stays silent.
Update:32 people still denied rescue despite distress situation and reported dangers to their health. Small children and a pregnant woman are in critical health condition, according to the people in the boat. Greek and Turkish Coast Guards leave them alone in the sea.