Aegean Boat Report was contacted tonight by people onboard a Greek coast guard vessel outside Samos, close to the island of Samiopoula, heading towards the Turkish sea border, begin for help.
“They arrested us from from a sailboat heading to Italy yesterday, Organization…. please help us, please send someone to help us, they are going to throw us to the water, they want to kill us, there are 105 of us, we were beaten, please help us..”
From videos received we can clearly see that some of the men have injuries, after, according to people onboard, being beaten by officers of the Greek coast guard.
People onboard told Aegean Boat Report that they had been heading towards Italy in a sailboat, when the Greek coast guard stopped them last night. Everyone was taken onboard the coast guard vessel, they destroyed the sailboat that sank shortly after.
From live location on whatsapp we could track the boat heading south east towards Turkey, after 30 minutes connection was lost, most likely phone was taken by officers onboard.
From the videos we have identified the boat to be a P355 GR / Class Marinos Zampatis, most likely either ΛΣ-900 or ΛΣ-910, belonging to the Greek coast guard.
The boat was built in Italy, bought in 2020 financed under the FRONTEX Special Equipment Action of the Internal Security Fund, 90% funded by EU money.
Naval Analyses: CNV P355GR, the new coastal patrol vessels of the Hellenic Coast Guard
The 105 people, men, women and children, will most likely be forced into life rafts in the Aegean Sea, left drifting as we speak.
This is the brutal reality for refugees on the border of Europe, how long can we continue to look away as if nothing is happening. Greece is acting in direct violation of international laws and human rights, funded by EU, pushing back refugees in the Aegean Sea by any means possible.
Greek uniformed officers beat these people. They rob them, strip them, in some cases sexually assault them. They ridicule them, injure them, and in some cases kill them. It is hard to imagine how any government could possibly behave worse to people seeking safety.
This needs to stop!!