More information has emerged in the case involving the 36 people who arrived on the Greek island of Giali on 2 August before later being found drifting in two inflatable life rafts by the Turkish Coast Guard.
Video in the end of the report.
Since publishing our initial report, Aegean Boat Report has spoken to one of the two local men who encountered the group shortly after they came ashore on Giali.
The witness confirmed that the group was present on the island and that the Greek authorities were informed of their arrival. However, he declined to discuss what happened after the authorities arrived or provide further information about the Greek Coast Guard operation.
In addition, Two of the members of the group has now contacted Aegean Boat Report after being returned to Turkey and provided a detailed account of what happened after the authorities took control of the group.
According to the victims, officers arriving in a small Greek Coast Guard patrol boat confiscated all telephones, money and other personal belongings, telling the group everything would be returned once they arrived on Kos. As we now know, they never arrived on Kos, and their belongings were never returned.
They explained that the group was transported from Giali to a larger Greek vessel in two separate trips. The journey took approximately ten minutes at high speed.
After reviewing photographs of different Greek Coast Guard vessels, both identified the larger vessel as a Cantiere Navale Victoria P355-class patrol vessel. This identification is based on the survivor’s comparison of photographs and has not been independently verified by Aegean Boat Report.
The P355 class is significant. Four vessels of this class were delivered to the Hellenic Coast Guard between 2019 and 2022 with approximately 90% funding from the European Union’s Internal Security Fund (ISF) to strengthen the protection of the EU’s external borders.
The same class of patrol vessel was also involved in the Adriana disaster off Pylos in June 2023, one of the deadliest shipwrecks ever recorded in the Mediterranean, where more than 650 people are believed to have lost their lives. Following that disaster, the lack of operational video footage from the patrol vessel became one of the central issues examined during subsequent investigations.
According to the victims, the group was brought alongside the larger vessel where they were met by armed, masked men. Powerful flashlights were repeatedly directed at the group, making it difficult to see what was happening on board. Several of the masked men spoke Arabic and informed the group, in Arabic, that they would soon arrive on Kos and receive their belongings back. The survivor explained that the dialect suggested to them that these men were not Greek nationals.
This is particularly noteworthy because Aegean Boat Report has, over several years, documented numerous pushback cases in which survivors independently described masked men speaking Arabic during similar operations.
They further explained that the larger vessel then travelled for approximately twenty minutes before the group was forced into two inflatable life rafts. Some people were ordered into the rafts, while others were physically thrown into them before the crew departed, leaving 36 men, women and children drifting alone at sea in darkness.
The Turkish Coast Guard later located both life rafts and rescued everyone on board.
One of them described the experience in a single sentence:
“We will never forget the horrific scene of the children and women until we die.”
The evidence surrounding this case continues to grow. It now includes photographs, videos, GPS location data, the Turkish Coast Guard’s own rescue footage, an independent civilian witness confirming the group’s presence on Giali, and detailed testimony from one of the survivors describing what happened after the authorities took control of the group.
If the survivor’s identification is correct, this case raises serious questions about the use of an EU-funded P355-class patrol vessel in an operation that ended with 36 men, women and children being abandoned at sea in two inflatable life rafts. The fact that the same class of vessel became central to investigations following the Adriana disaster makes those questions all the more significant.
A case like this would, in many European countries, likely dominate the news for days. Reports that a state’s coast guard kidnapped men, women and children, confiscated their belongings, forced them out to sea and abandoned them in life rafts would almost certainly trigger intense public scrutiny, political pressure and demands for an independent investigation.
Yet in Greece, this case has received remarkably little attention. To date, it has been mentioned by only one Greek newspaper, which simply referred to the information published by Aegean Boat Report rather than conducting its own investigation.
Given the seriousness of the case, the growing body of evidence and the potential involvement of an EU-funded patrol vessel, the lack of broader media scrutiny is difficult to understand. These are events that deserve thorough, independent investigation—not silence.
The questions raised by this case extend far beyond the actions of the Greek authorities.
For years, a growing body of evidence has documented pushbacks, unlawful expulsions, violence against people seeking protection and the abandonment of men, women and children at sea. Survivors’ testimonies, photographs, videos, GPS data, satellite imagery, journalists, humanitarian organisations, international bodies and court proceedings have all contributed to an extensive body of evidence.
The European Court of Human Rights has also found Greece responsible for violations of the European Convention on Human Rights in a number of migration-related cases, reinforcing concerns that these are not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern requiring effective scrutiny.
Yet despite this, the European Commission has neither launched its own independent investigation into these documented practices nor initiated infringement proceedings against Greece.
If the European Union is founded on the rule of law, accountability and respect for fundamental rights, when does that responsibility begin? How much evidence is required before the Commission acts?
How many more men, women and children must suffer before the institutions entrusted with safeguarding the rule of law are prepared to enforce it equally across all Member States?
These are no longer questions about Greece alone. They are questions about the credibility of the European Union itself.
Aegean Boat Report will continue investigating this case and publish further evidence as it becomes available.