Wednesday April 6, at 15.00, a boat carrying 31 people arrived south of the airport on Lesvos south.
After arriving they quickly ran into the woods, hid in several groups in the surrounding area, scared to be found by authorities and illegal sent back to Turkey.
In a normal world this would not have been a big issue, local organizations together with authorities would have assisted the new arrivals, made sure that they were taken to a safe place, medical check, provided them with food and water, asylum applications processed.
Unfortunately what we considered “normal” just a few years ago, has now been drastically changed, especially in Greece. People arriving on Greek borders seeking safety from war and persecution, men, women and children, are now being violently removed by Greek authorities.
Greek government has decided that these people, these unwanted ones, do not deserve to be treated as human beings, stripped of all rights, due to their religion and color of their skin.
While Greece are welcoming the “real” refugees with open arms from Ukraine, they are forcing refugees who enters Greece “illegally”, back over the border at gunpoint every single day, killing people in the process.
Since 2020, 30.000 people have been pushed back by Greek authorities in the Aegean Sea, vulnerable people are being beaten, robbed and threatened at gunpoint, forced back in direct violation of international laws and human rights. This has been going on for years, in full knowledge of the European Parliament, assisted by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.
The group that arrived on Lesvos south on Wednesday, arrived in brought daylight, and was observed by locals, one even filmed the arrival on his phone, and later published it on social media. Strangely enough, when local law enforcement is asked about this incident, they say there was no arrivals in this area that they had been made aware of.
This is of course not true, just 30 minutes after the group had arrived, local police, port police and civilian police was observed searching the area south of the airport, several cars, some without license plates participated, the boat was also removed from the beach.
Also local online news on Lesvos, Lesvos Post and Lesvos Voice published about the new arrivals south of the airport. Unfortunately they never bothered following up on the story, no question was raised on what happened to these people, since they didn’t arrive in the camp, Investigative journalism at its best.
In todays efsyn they also write abouth yet another disappearance og refugees on Lesvos
So why would local authorities deny any knowledge of the arrival of these people, especially since it happened in brought daylight, in front of everyone? They are obviously lying, no question about it, the people who suppose to enforce the law has turned into criminals, using mafia methods, beating, robbing and threaten people, on direct orders from the Greek government.
So the question is, why is nobody trying to stop this inhumane and illegal practice? If tourists in Greece had been treated in similar ways, it would have been on the front page on every newspaper, it would have been internationally condemned. Instead of condemning it we are actually supporting it, funding Greece to continue, and using Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency to assist the Greek authorities.
Would we have done the same if the people arriving in flimsy rubber boats to the Greek Aegean islands have been white, Christian’s similar to us, not carrying names like Ahram, Inaya, Muhammad and Hiba, I highly doubt it. What does that say about us and our so called “European values”?
The new arrivals contacted organizations and relatives in the camp on Lesvos, to try to find help, unfortunately no such help was given, and at 18.00 all contact was lost. The last information sent out was that they had been found and arrested by police, and taken to some kind of storage area close to the airport, locked up in a room. Police was searching everyone, taking away all their belongings, phones, papers, money and bags.
At 23.15 Turkish coast guard (TCG) found and rescued 25 people from two life rafts drifting outside Cesme, Turkey. The Greek police even took the clothes they were wearing, most of their jackets, leaving them outisde in the middle of the sea freezing, that’s just cruel.
When comparing pictures and videos from when TCG found them drifting at sea, there is no doubt, it’s the same people who earlier this day had been on Lesvos.
Six people from this group, four of them minors, were missing. They had quickly moved away from the area and was not arrested by police on Wednesday. During the night they managed to hide, and in the following morning, Thursday 7, 5 arrived by themselves at the RIC in Maurovouni, the last one the following day.
What happened to the rest of the group, and who is responsible is quiet obvious. 25 people was arrested, kept locked up until nightfall and then taken back out to sea on a Greek coast guard vessel. 25 people, men, women and children was forced into two life rafts and left drifting in the Aegean Sea.
Another “successful” illegal operation performed by the Greek coast guard, on direct orders from the Greek authorities, to protect Europe from these unwanted people.
In these difficult times it’s easy to see that we do not value life equally, we differentiate between people who are more “similar” to us, the right skin color and religion, and we open our doors, the rest, those unlucky ones, who comes from the wrong place, we beat, torture and mutilate, even kill to keep them out of our precious Europe.
To call refugees from Ukraine “the real refugees”, and people from other “unwanted” parts of the world “illegal immigrant’s”, just based of the color on their skin and their religion, comes from the same dangerous ideology that was used by Nazi Germany under Hitler. We seem to have forgotten our recent dark history, both in Greece and in Europe.