Aegean Boat Report

On February 9, at 21.42(EET), Aegean Boat Report was contacted by a person claiming to be in distress at sea in a rubber boat with a malfunctioning engine, drifting outside the Greek island of Lesvos in bad weather conditions together with 44 other people.

At first this person was, due to bad cell phone reception in the area, not able to send out a proper location that could be verified. In such cases we try to log as much information as possible regarding the situation onboard, so that we when receiving verified location data can inform local authorities immediately to try to prevent loss of life.

At 22.07 we finally received a location 2 km east of Palios, Lesvos north east, and immediately tried to reach the port authority in Mytilíni, but for some unexplained reason there was no reply, the phone was ringing for 1 minute before it was disconnected. We tried different numbers, all with the same results, ringing for one minute afterwards disconnected.

We was in constant contact with people onboard, while at the same time trying to reach the authorities on Lesvos. We also informed local assets on the island, so that organizations could be informed on the ongoing emergency situation. We also informed the people in distress to try to reach the international emergency number 112 and the Greek coast guard on 108, as far as we know they managed to reach 112 but was after giving location data told that they could not help them.

We finally established contact with the port police in Mólivos, but at first, even do we thoroughly explained the emergency situation, they were not willing to take the information we had. After some persuasion they finally agreed to write down the necessary information and inform port police in Mytilini. While talking to the port police officer on duty this night, he informed us that they already had received a call from someone in this area, and that vessels was sent to a location not far from the location we provided.

The boat in distress contained to drift south west, parallel to land, only 4-500 meters from land, but due to heavy winds people onboard was not able to maneuver the boat without a working engine. We received a video showing people in a boat, some wearing life jackets, and they clearly asked for help and that they feared that they would drown.

Contact with the group was lost several times over the next hour, but since the person contacting us had activated and sent a live location on WhatsApp, whenever they came online we could follow their movements, and with this information predict due to wind direction where they most likely would hit land.

At 23.14 the group contacted us by sending location and a voice message, confirming that they had managed to reach land, all safe but that they needed assistance from local organizations. A few minutes later the phone went offline, and never came online again.

The group sent out location data over WhatsApp that confirmed that they were on Lesvos, and that they finally had made it safely to land on a small beach north of Ag. Stefanos, Lesvos north east. The entire group, 45 people, men, women and children suddenly magically disappeared, and was according to port authorities on Lesvos never located.

Two hours after the group had landed on the shore, locals and local organizations arrived on location, there were no people to be found, but there were definite proof that people had just arrived and was hastily removed. A boat was found on the beach and bags, clothes, ID documents and other personal belongings was scattered all over the place.

There are usually belongings left behind whenever people arrive, especially wet clothes, life jackets, garbage from food and water bottles. In this location it seemed everything was left behind, very unusual and unlikely that people would leave things they would need in this extent. Later in daylight locals found a total of 22 bags, huge amounts of dry clothes and new shoes, ID documents, credit cards, fresh food, makeup etc. someone was in a hurry to remove this group, no question about it, they knew that organization was on their way, so they removed the people but didn’t have the time to clean up and remove the evidence of their presence.

No new arrivals was registered on Lesvos this day, nor the following days, and port authorities on Lesvos claims that they found no people on land or sea this night.

Another mystery in a long string of mysteries on the Greek island, where people magically disappears on a daily basis, just evaporates into the air, and later are found drifting in Greek manufactured life rafts in the Aegean Sea. Greek authorities have so far categorically detained any involvement. So far over 1100 life rafts have been found drifting in the Aegean Sea, carrying almost 19.000 people, all manufactured by the Greek company Lalizas from Pireus, and who has a contract providing rescue equipment to the Greek coast guard. A short investigation into the companies deliveries will most likely show that they have delivered far more life rafts to the Greek coast guard than they would ever need to equip their vessels, but who cares, it’s business as usual, these rings will never be investigated.

On February 10, at 07.25, Turkish coast guard found and rescued 45 people drifting outside Dikili, Turkey, both life rafts was manufactured by the Greek company Lalizas from Pireus.

From pictures, videos from and ID documents found on Lesvos, we have been able to confirm that they were the same people who the following morning was found drifting in the life rafts outside Dikili. There is no doubt about who is responsible, not in this case, nor thousands of similar cases over the last three years, all done in the name of border management and protection of our precious “ fortress Europe”.

Europeans are always eager to point fingers towards anyone outside Europe not following the rule of law, violating human rights, treating people badly, but in regards to our own actions, we seems not only blind, but also deaf, dumb and stupid.

European politicians is unable, or rather unwilling, to do anything to stop these crimes against humanity committed by European authorities on European soil, it’s as if human rights is only for “our people”, anyone else is of less importance and value, that they are killed on our borders is of no concern, all in the name of border management.

European values was ones something we could be proud of, something others could be inspired by, look up to. Today the guardians of these values, European politicians and the European Parliament, have failed miserably, what we once was so proud of has been ruined, it will forever be a stain, a dark chapter, of our history.

The tragic shipwreck on Lesvos on the morning of Tuesday February 7 claimed three lives, two women and one man.

A boat, reported to be carrying 41 people, ran into cliffs on their way in towards shore on Lesvos, 39 people was eventually rescued and 3 people died.

According to survivors, the smugglers told them that the boat would only have 10 passengers, when the boat left Turkey in bad weather conditions, there were 41 passengers onboard, none of them used life jackets.

This boat should under no circumstances have left Turkish shores, not even in good weather conditions. These boats are death traps, overloaded rubber boats, poorly made, that the smugglers have bought cheap from China, to maximize their profit, without any concern for the safety of the people who are placed in these boats.

These boats are of such poor quality that it must be understood that when at sea, people onboard these dangerous boats are already in distress, and needs to be rescued even do they haven’t asked to be rescued.

According to The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Rescue of people in distress at sea, regardless of their nationality or status, is an unconditional obligation for all ships in vicinity and coastal state authorities.

In this aspect both Turkish and Greek coast guard are obligated to rescue people in these boats, and transport them to the nearest port of safety. Under no circumstances should people in these boats face further endangerment by the actions taken by the coast guard based on political motives.

In the Aegean Sea these people have over several years been used as political pawns between Turkey and Greece, as a result people are drowning at the border, nobody is held accountable for this power game, and The European Parliament is avoiding the issue at all cost, looking the other way as if nothing is going on.

After the shipwreck on Lesvos we could read statements in the Greek press and on social media, from Greek politicians, especially the minister of migration and asylum, Notis Mitarachi, that this was Turkish fault, that they should have stoped these dangerous boats from starting out from Turkish shores.

The portraits of Greece as the hero saving thousands of lives at sea, and Turkey as the villain killing people is not unfamiliar, this is what the greek authorities want the public to read, downplaying their role and responsibility, covering up what is really going on.

Anyone who would take the time to talk to refugees, both in Turkey and Greece, will quickly learn that what Greek authorities want you to believe, is as far from the truth as it could possibly be, and that refugees are put in further danger by the actions taken by Greek authorities to prevent people from applying for asylum in Greece.

While the rescue operation on Lesvos was ongoing on February 7, another boat carrying 50 people was heading toward Lesvos south. Wetter conditions in the area was as we know not good, high waves and wind up to 7 Beaufort.

The boat was stoped by a vessel from the Greek coast guard, petrol hose on the boat was cut and they were left drifting in bad weather conditions in the middle of the sea. Non of the passengers was wearing life jackets, if they had ended up in the sea this would have been the second disaster this day.

People onboard contacted Aegean Boat Report for assistance, they were scared of drowning, begging to be rescued. Turkish coast guard was alerted but due to difficult weather conditions it took time to locate the drifting rubble boat.

The rubble boat drifter for six hours in the sea area between Lesvos south and Turkey, when the Turkish coast guard finally found them they had drifted 14 nautical miles(26km) in heavy winds and waves.

At 16.25 Turkish coast guard found and rescued 50 people from a rubber boat drifting outside Foça, Turkey, 39 people from Kongo, 5 from Somalia, 4 from Yemen and 2 from Angola.

50 human beings was set adrift by the Greek coast guard in bad weather conditions in the middle of the sea. At the same time a rescue operation was ongoing only a few miles away, to rescue people from a shipwreck after a boat had hit the rocks on Lesvos, three people drowned.

Pushbacks in the Aegean Sea is a daily occurrence, over the last three years 54.000 people, men, women and children, have been pushed back by Greek authorities in over 2.000 cases. People are left helplessly drifting at sea in unseaworthy boats and life raft, their lives put at risk by the Greek coast guard.

Greek authorities are still denying that they perform pushbacks, evidence that say otherwise is overwhelming. These violations of international laws and human rights have over many years been documented and proven by journalists, researchers, EU institutions and organizations, even EUs own Anti-Fraud Office(OLAF) investigated Frontex involvement in these pushbacks in Greece, their conclusions was clear as day, but still Greece denies any involvement.

The latest revelation was a confidential report by Jonas Grimheden, the top rights officer at Europe’s border agency, to the management board of Frontex, saying that Frontex should stop working with Greece because border guards there were mistreating asylum seekers.

From an article recently published in The New York Times, we could read, “The human rights chief of the European Union border agency said last year that it should stop operating in Greece because of serial abuses by Greek border guards, including violently pushing asylum seekers back to Turkey and separating migrant children from their parents”.

The recommendation to suspend Frontex operations in Greece came from Frontex own top human rights officer, and was based on internal reports in the situation in Greece from frontex own human rights officers on the ground. Instead of following the recommendation, and take legal action against Greece, EU decided to set up a “working group” to make further enquirers, avoiding taking any responsibility. Frontex management board replied to the The Times that “we don’t see a reason to pull out from one of the most challenging border areas of the whole E.U”, human rights violations and breach of the rule of law seems to be of little concern for the European Parliament, no infringement procedures have been launched against Greece, and is not very likely to happen anytime soon.

“The officer wrote that he had gathered continued “credible reports” of the Greek authorities systematically expelling migrants at both sea and land borders.”

If reports from EUs own agencies isn’t enough, what is? What will it take for EU to follow their own laws, and if they are not willing to do so, why should anyone else?

Over the last three years 54.000 people have been pushed back in the Aegean Sea in over 2.000 cases by Greek authorities, despite the mounting evidence against them, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, continue to deny Greek involvement in these atrocities.

Evidence is recorded by UN bodies, NGOs and investigative journalists. However, Mitsotakis refuted the ever mounting evidence of systematic pushbacks, saying Greece fully respects fundamental rights and doubling down on often repeated claims that such allegations are orchestrated by Turkey.

UN bodies and human rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece’s illegal practice of pushing back refugees, saying it violates human rights and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable people, including women and children.

Pushbacks are contrary to international refugee protection agreements, which dictate that people should not be expelled or returned to a country where their life and safety might be in danger due to their race, religion, nationality, or membership in a social or political group.

A concerning trend in Greece of criminalisation of civil society organizations, who continue to expose Greek authorities, and the use of smear campaigns to restrict migrant rights defenders from operating.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/01/26/greece-migrant-rights-defenders-face-charges?fbclid=IwAR1se3ODtabOtfu6KwaiYNHReojySmu4d0hZfmAlPVQPKWp11jGzaZSZKgg

So far almost 1.100 life rafts has been picked up by Turkish coast guard in the Aegean Sea, carrying 18.500 men, women and children, who have been illegally removed from Greek islands by authorities.

In January 2023 Aegean Boat Report have registered 66 illegal pushbacks in the Aegean Sea, performed by the Hellenic coast guard, 1.881 people, children, women and men, have been denied their right to seek asylum, their human rights have been violated by the Greek government.

25 of these pushback cases was performed by using rescue equipment, where 583 people, children, women and men was placed in a total of 36 life rafts, and left helplessly drifting at sea.

We have put together a video showing the 36 life rafts that was found drifting in the Aegean Sea in January, carrying almost 600 people.

How this have been allowed to continue for all these years, still ongoing every single day, supported by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency FRONTEX, funded by the European Commission, is reprehensible, these are the “European values” we are trying to protect.

European politicians have for far to long been looking the other way, while these crimes against humanity have been performed in our name, at our borders. They are even to this day, still debating “if” this is actually taking place, and if so, who is responsible.

The “if” and “who” has already been documented and proven without a doubt, the evidence is overwhelming, now it’s time to put the people responsible on trial for crimes against humanity, and restore our good name and reputation, our values.

For three years, the Greek government has, in place of a refugee policy, deliberately broken international law, carrying out acts of violence, torture, and sometimes murder against men, women and children who have done nothing wrong.

It’s time for this outrage to end. Whether the trash is the despicable policy and activity of the Greek Nea Dimokratia government, or the government itself, it’s time we took it out, and disposed of it. That’s what we do with trash..

Over the last three years, thousands of people have contact Aegean Boat Report for assistance, either from the Greek islands after arriving,

or in distress at sea.

In recent months we have seen a decrease of people making contact after arriving on the Greek islands. This is happening at a time when the number of people trying to cross, and the number of pushbacks, is rapidly increasing, which gives real cause for concern.

If more people were instead making direct contact with local organisations for assistance when they arrive, this would make the reduced number of calls to us an improvement, and hopefully would have resulted in fewer people being violently removed from the islands. This is unfortunately not the case.

When I’m looking at statistics on the number of people being registered as new arrivals compared to people being pushed back in life rafts, I’m concerned that most of us are not seeing the full picture.

Arrivals on the Greek islands have increased throughout 2022, so from that we can assume that more people have made contact with someone after arriving to try to get assistance. Aegean Boat Report have had a steady increase in people asking for assistance last year, apart from in December: the last month of 2022 was unusually quiet compared to previous months.

Only 18 per cent of people who started their trip towards the Greek Aegean islands in 2022 managed to arrive and were given the opportunity to apply for asylum – their legal right.

This means 82 per cent ended up back in Turkey, due to pushbacks (41 per cent), engine problems, or being stopped by the Turkish coast guard (TCG)(41 per cent).

What we don’t see is the high number of people who reach the Greek islands, only to be arrested, taken back out to sea, and are left drifting in life rafts by Greek authorities.

A total of 21,152 people actually arrived on the Greek islands in 2022. Of those, 11.496 (54 per cent) people were registered and given the opportunity to apply for asylum, while 9.656 (46 per cent) were forcibly removed by Greek authorities and left helplessly drifting in 575 life rafts in the Aegean Sea.

Aegean Boat Report has documented and published hundreds of pushback cases, which has been possible because after arriving, people arriving have contacted us, providing important documentation in form of pictures, videos and location data.

When fewer people make contact, our ability to document and publish is affected, and important documentation is lost.

We must assume that local organisations have had contact with many of the people who have later been pushed back, but unfortunately this information is not made available to the public.

What information these local organisations receive, and how this information is preserved, is unknown. As far as we know, this information is not used or shared as documentation on how people on the move are treated in Greece.

We understand that organisations on the ground can’t use the information they have as we do, because they will be criminalized, targeted, intimidated and eventually charged, as I have, by a government which is abusing its position and its power to target and attack organisations with false claims and threats of jail and other punishments, despite those organisations – including ABR – doing nothing other than protecting the legal and human rights of men, women and children, highlighting the incidences in which those rights are being ignored or denied, and assisting the government to fulfil its moral and legal duties to people on the move.

We are determined to continue to protect people’s inalienable legal and human rights, by revealing the true face of the Greek authorities. But we can’t do it without information, and we can’t do it alone.

In December, 14 groups that arrived on Lesvos – more than 400 men, women and children – were found by Greek authorities, arrested, forced back to sea, and left drifting in life rafts. Similar cases take place every week – in many cases every day – on each of the Greek Aegean islands. There is no exception.

This is a systematic approach to so-called ‘migration management’, the Greek authorities, backed and protected by the European Commission, violating international laws and human rights.

Almost 10.000 people, half of everyone who managed to reach the Greek Aegean islands in 2022, were arrested, robbed, threatened, beaten and forcibly removed by Greek police and coast guard, with the help of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency FRONTEX, in the name of border management and protection.

This was paid for by European taxpayers’ money, and blessed by the European Commission. The Commission has the mandate, authority and opportunity to stop these atrocities, to ensure the rule of law in Europe is upheld, human rights are defended, and that our common European values are protected.

Instead, after more three years, it has done nothing.

The question everyone should ask themselves is why, why has nothing been done?

The Commission can’t hide behind claims of a lack of evidence: even their own OLAF report concluded the Greek authorities, with help from FRONTEX, violate international laws and human rights, so why has absolutely nothing been done?

There are thousands of witness statements, hundreds of reports and investigations, overwhelming amounts of evidence from EU bodies, NGO’s, journalists and researchers, all proving that Greek authorities are violating international laws and human rights on an industrial scale, activity that can only be seen as crimes against humanity.

It’s time to remove the cancer before it’s to late, before it infects everything we hold dearly.

It’s time to pull up our sleeves and take out the trash.

We at Aegean Boat Report are saddened, weary, and sadly not at all surprised to once again have been targeted by the Greek government with yet another mischievous, baseless and transparent attempt to prevent us from carrying out our – unfortunately necessary – work.

Anyone who has followed us or our experiences in recent years will be aware that we are the leading observer and reporter of illegal pushbacks of men, women and children from the Greek Aegean Sea, and that as a result of this work, we have been repeatedly targeted and  threatened by the Greek government, which carries out these illegal, brutal and in many cases fatal pushbacks – despite their absolute illegality – as its main ‘response’ to people seeking safety in the EU.

And once again, the government has, through the Greek Coastguard which has leaned upon the Kos Prosecutor’s Office, issued a transparent attack on us and the Greek branch of the international Helsinki Monitor, in the form of a lawsuit which can only be described as frivolous, if not an aggressive effort to intimidate us.

In this latest abuse of its power, the Greek government has used its operational arms to allege that we and the Greek Helsinki Monitor have: ‘formed a criminal organisation with the purpose of receiving information from citizens of third countries, who attempt illegal entry into Greece, in order to facilitate their illegal entry and stay, by sending the authorities their complete information and their exact location in the country, in order for the latter to be subject to asylum procedures.’

We were not specifically named in the government’s original release announcing this astonishing charge, but we and the ‘… Monitor’ have been named in a letter of complaint about it, signed by 14 Greek humanitarian organisations who, correctly, call the charges a ‘witch-hunt’.

We do not wish to prejudice any trial which may take place, but we must note the following:

·     Neither we, nor as far as we know the Greek Helsinki Monitor have ever formed a criminal organisation. Indeed, we will go further. If the government is seriously suggesting that the Helsinki Monitor, renowned across the world as a guardian of human rights, is in fact carrying out criminal activity, we must advise it to step back and think much more sensibly about what it is alleging, and advise anyone else to treat such claims with the extreme scepticism they deserve

·         The activities alleged in the ‘charge’ are in fact not at all criminal

It is the human and legal right of any and all human beings on Earth to travel to any country they choose to seek safe places to live, learn and work, and enter the asylum system where their claims to such safety must be considered by the government of that country. They have broken no laws by entering Greece.  

The ‘charge’ is that we actually are informing the Greek authorities of the location of people who have entered Greece in the hope of finding safety, both assisting the legal rights of those people, and assisting the Greek authorities to carry out their own legal duties.

That is, we are being ‘charged’ with the promotion and protection of the law, a law being broken by the Greek government, as if us doing so were in some way a crime. It is the opposite.

We feel at this stage it is pointless to say very much more on this matter. We very much hope the Greek courts can save the government the embarrassment of either having their most recent attack on us either dismissed by the court or shown to be the aggressive effort to deter us from doing our jobs that it in fact is.

But we also note that we will be very happy to point out in court that we are not even accused of, and never have we carried out, any illegal activity.

We also feel we must ask: why would it be that the Greek government, which has illegally pushed-back tens of thousands of men, women and children, killing some, beating many and robbing almost all, in the process, should wish to take us to court for ensuring the law is upheld and people are able to enter the asylum system as is their right?

Tommy Olsen, Aegean Boat Report

On Friday December 16 a boat carrying 35 people crashed into rocks of the coast in the Fara area west of the entrance to the gulf of Sheraton Lesvos south, according to the information published by the Hellenic coast guard.

During the rescue operation 34 people was recovered alive, including two people who was injured and taken to hospital, a two month old boy was found dead, reportedly drowned caused by the shipwreck.

According to a statement published by the police, the information regarding arrivals in the area of Gera initially came from an email from the organization Alarmphone, and that they had received another email at 10.13 from UNHCR informing them of a dead baby.

A statement was published by MSF on Saturday where they informed that they had been stopped by officers from the local police and port authorities and held back, for almost two hours, not allowed to go into the area to attend shipwreck victims before after 12 pm. “On our way to the site, the Hellenic Police stopped us for almost 2 hours, delaying the possibility of timely medical care. Another group was stopped by the Greek Coast Guard. We will never know if these two hours would allow us to save the baby’s life,” the MSF statement reads.

Due to the email sent by Alarmphone, an organization authorized previously has accused of espionage, police claimed to have sealed off the area for investigation purposes, and that this was the reason for holding medical staff from MSF back.

Alarmphone has published a statement saying Greek authorities are trying yet again to cover up their own crimes.

Several versions have been published by port authorities, their statements seems to change from time to time to better fit information published by MSF and press articles, especially on when they were informed and what time they went to the area.

In one of the versions port authorities claimed that the Port Authority of Mytilene was informed of the arrival of the refugees at “noon” and “immediate officials of the Port Authority of Plomari went to the area with a patrol vehicle of the Hellenic Coast Guard”. In a more recent update, the Coast Guard stated that the information it had was from the High Commission at the same time as the police had received this information. Alarmphone, according to EFSYN, sent out the email to inform authorities at 08.43, and not at “noon”.

So when did authorities actually intervene, and what was the real reason for blocking medical personnel from entering the area? According to reports, the time the two units of MSF arrived in the area was around 09.45 in the morning, they first unite was blocked for two hours by police forces, and the second by the port police! Which means quite simply that the Coast Guard, which according to the police also had jurisdiction over the operation, was in the area early on.

According to information published by Thrasos Avraám, several vehicles without license plates had been observed in the area by locals this morning. Normally road blocks are put up by authorities to give these groups time to remove people without witnesses, pushing people back to Turkey. This information indicates that MSF was blocked so that they would not interfere with authorities illegal activities, and had little to do with who informed authorities on this arrival.

Information from the refuges themselves stated that they had been 50 people on the boat, not 34 as authorities claimed, and that 16 people was missing, one of them the mother of the dead baby boy, according to the boy’s father. In authorities statements noting was published on missing people nor any actions taken to try to locate them. What could possibly be the reason for leaving such important information out of their official statements?

Press statement

“In the early hours of today, the Port Authority of Mytilene received the results of the autopsy – autopsy carried out by the Forensic Service of the North Aegean, according to which the infant’s death occurred “as a result of drowning in sea water”.

The results are consistent with an email sent by UNHCR, around 10:13 on 16/12/2022, informing both the Port Authority of Mytilene and the competent authorities about the incident in question, stating the existence of the dead infant, who according to information he had fallen into the sea upon the arrival of the foreigners on the island and his death had been noticed by them foreigners arriving after disembarkation on land.

The aforementioned briefing was followed by investigations to identify the foreigners from L.S. – EL.AKT patrol boats. and L.S.-EL.AKT patrol vehicles and around 15:00 a total of thirty-four (34) foreigners and the infant, unconscious, were found in the land area “FARA” n. Lesvos.

Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, Office of Communication and Information”

Information published by authorities on this case has been confusing, since they change their statements to better fit information published by organizations and journalists. What we are about to reveal next will drastically change how this case is perceived, and raise many questions on what authorities actually did and the reason for doing so.

On December 16, at 14.55, a life raft carrying 16 people (Yemen, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Liberia), was found drifting outside Dikili by Turkish coast guard.

The rescued claimed to have been part of a larger group, approximately 50 people, that arrived on Lesvos south earlier this morning. One of the people found in this life raft was a woman who claimed she had been separated from her two months old boy and her husband, they, according to her, was left behind on Lesvos.

We won’t speculate in what really happened on Lesvos this morning, because so far we have not been able to confirm all of the information. One thing is clear, Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy has published a statement that is far from the truth, deliberately lying to the public on an incident where a two month old baby boy died, this is extremely worrying and shows the lengths the Greek authorities are willing to go to cover up their illegal practice.

We are informed that legal actors are in contact with the victims in Turkey, and specifically the alleged mother of the dead baby boy, hopefully more information will be published by the parties involved when the time is right. It will also be interesting to see how the Ministry will react, and if they once again will change their statement to better fit the narrative.

This case that resulted in the death of a two month old baby boy, and similar cases in Greece, should be thoroughly investigated by an independent EU body, and not by Greek authorities, whose only interest is to cover up their own crimes.

On Thursday December 15, 26 people, 25 Palestinians and one Yemeni, was found on the Aegean island of Lipsi in northern Dodecanese. The group claimed to have been hiding on a remote beach on the island , to avoid being found by Greek authorities and illegally returned to Turkey.

The group consisted of Palestinian families fleeing from Turkey, amongst them 4 children, 3 pregnant women and a man with a serious case of diabetes that needed medical attention, and was provided by the local ambulance on the island.

The group was eventually brought to the port police office in Lipsi by local police, located in the port across from Lipsi Park.

Locals on the island once again showed solidarity, provided food, clothes, hygiene/sanitary products and toys for the children, even local police provided water and oranges.

Around 15.00 local police started escorting the group down to the port and out to the pier, information from port police on Lipsi was that the group was going to be transported to camp on Leros. Later we will see that this information was not correct.

At 16.00 a coast guard vessel arrived in Port, there are no coast guard vessels stationed on Lipsi.

The boat was, as we can see from pictures and videos, a Lambro Halmatic 60 SAR vessel, belonging to the Hellenic coast guard, carrying identification number 514. The SAR-514 is one out of 10 vessels in this class in the Greek coast guard fleet, this one is stationed on Leros.

Onboard the SAR vessel we can clearly see 8 men, five of these men uses balaclavas to cover their faces, two are without masks and one uses a regular face mask. According to Greek officials balaclavas is not used by coast guard performing their regular duties, but in this case most actually did.

Locals were not allowed to go out on the pier, but from a distance they observed the group being slowly taken onboard and placed outside in the back of the vessel. The ambulance drove out to the coast guard vessel with the diabetic patient who also was transferred to the coast guard ship.

There were many witnesses on Lipsi who can confirm that this group of 26 people, mostly Palestinian families, men, woman and children, was on the island of Lipsi, and in the custody of the Hellenic coast guard, even a local priest from the Greek Orthodox Church was there to give support. Little did they know then of what would happen to these families, their faith was already set.

Shortly after 17 pm, while the sun was going down, the coast guard vessel left port in Lipsi and headed out to sea carrying 26 refugees that locals was told by local port police would be taken to Leros. In pictures and videos we can see the vessel leaving port, all 26 refugees was sitting outside in the back of the vessel, while these masked officers was guarding them on deck.

What we can confirm is that this group never arrived on Leros as locals was told. As we can see from the official registration data provided by Greek authorities only one person arrived on Leros on December 15, no arrivals the following day was registered.

Some might think that this could be an error in the registration, and that the group was taken to Leros on the evening of December 15. Unfortunately this is not the case, first reception on Leros will confirm that only one person arrived on the island during these two days, and this person did not arrive on the SAR-514, so what really happened to this group?

For people working in documenting the situation in the Aegean Sea, these cases are not rare nor unusual, it’s actually more the rule than the exception. Refugees, men, women and children are removed from Greek islands and forced into life rafts in the middle of the sea by the Greek coast guard, on direct orders from the Greek government. In this case the surprising part was that it was done so openly, in front of everyone in bright daylight, as if this was totally legal, it’s not, it’s actually a violation of international law and human rights law.

On December 16, at 04.15, 26 people, men, women and children, was found drifting in a life raft outside Menderes by the Turkish coast guard.

When comparing pictures and videos taken by locals on Lipsi, with pictures and videos taken by the Turkish coast guard when the group was found, there is absolutely no doubt, it’s the same group that was taken onboard the coast guard vessel in Lipsi. Also any local who was involved can easily identify this group as the people they helped on the island, if anyone would care to investigate.

Unfortunately these cases are never investigated, not by Greek authorities nor by the EU Commission. Instead Greek authorities are targeting people and organizations, who on a daily basis are documenting, investigating and publishing these crimes committed by Greek authorities, in an ongoing witch hunt to criminalize frontline defenders.

We who are trying to protect the rights of others, have become the target of ridicules and unfounded investigations, and are facing criminal charges for doing our job protecting refugees at the border of Europe.

Aegean Boat Report have systematically documented, investigated and published hundreds of cases of pushbacks performed by Greek authorities in the Aegean Sea over the last three years. This has not gone unnoticed, and we have frequently been the target of the Greek authorities systematic disinformation and propaganda campaigns, meant to slander and criminalize anyone who reveals their true nature.

Defending human rights is a human right!

In the early morning of December 6, a boat carrying 44 people arrived on the northeastern shore of Lesvos.

Shortly after arriving the group fled to the woods in the surrounding area to hide, fearing that if they were found by Greek authorities they would be illegally deported back to Turkey.

The group contacted local organizations to try to get help, after a while their call for help was answered. If the group agreed that the local organization shared their location with Greek authorities, this organization could then come to their aid, after some persuasion, the group hesitantly agreed, they desperately needed help.

Hours passed and nothing happened, the group was reassured that the organization was on its way, they just needed to be patient. At this point the group started reaching out to others, in a desperate attempt to find help elsewhere, but suddenly the situation changed dramatically.

Five people, all men, dressed in dark blue military uniforms, faces covered by balaclavas like commandos, carrying guns and batons arrived in their location, they were screaming while pointing guns at them, it was a terrifying.

In the chaos that followed, 3 people, all men, managed to run away and hide, two of the commandos ran after them but wasn’t able to catch them, they gave up after a short chase and returned to the group.

The others masked men had already started to search the group, taking away any belongings they might find, phones, money, bags and papers, people was crying, especially the women and children. Some of the women, the younger ones, had to undress in front of everyone, and was thoroughly searched, it was an humiliating experience.

The group was taken into a dark van and transported away from the area, this happened while the organization was held up by a roadblock by local police, not an unusual tactic, to hinder organizations from assisting new arrivals, giving authorities room to remove people and afterwards claiming that nobody was found.

We have seen this tactic been used for a long time on Lesvos, police setting up roadblocks to avoid unwanted spectators and any interference from NGOs. Organizations have to inform authorities on location of new arrivals, to be allowed to go to assist, this permission might be delayed, and give authorities a window of opportunity to rush to the area and remove people, before organizations are allowed to move in.

When this is not enough, because at times people are difficult to find, the local police puts up roadblocks, stopping organizations on what they call “routine checks”, papers, searching vehicles etc, a process that can take hours. When people have been found and removed, police at the roadblock is informed and the search is over. Organizations heads to the location already given to the authorities hours earlier, to find nothing.

Sometimes the coordination between police at the roadblock and the “hunting party” in the woods is a bit sloppy, and organizations are given the all clear at the roadblock before everything is rapped up. Then organizations are moving in to areas where these masked commandos are still operating, and we get situations like the one in October 20, where a team from MSF arrived on location finding 22 people, three people in handcuffs and four others severely beaten, their attackers, 8 men in dark uniforms wearing balaclavas and carrying guns, ran away when they heard MSF approaching.

The group of 41 people, men, women and children, was taken to a port, forced onto a Greek Coast Guard vessel and quickly taken back out to sea. The group had to sit under a tarpaulin in the front of the boat, hidden to make sure nobody could see what was going on from land or sea.

Soon after they were forced into two life rafts and left helplessly drifting in brought daylight in the middle of the sea. One of the people had managed to hid his phone, and captured this on film, in the video he says “Greece forced us to go back, this is our situation”.

At 15.50 Turkish coast guard found and rescued 41 people, 15 of them small children, from two life rafts drifting outside Dikili, Turkey, after they had been informed by Greek Coast Guard of their location.

After being rescued they informed officers onboard that three people were missing, left behind on Lesvos. Three people were later this day found on Lesvos by organizations and taken to the quarantine facility in Megala Thermi, Lesvos north. The three afghans confirmed that they had been part of a group of 44 afghans who arrived early in the morning, they managed to run away, while the rest of their group was captured by men in military uniform carrying guns, faces covered with balaclavas.

If anyone really wanted to investigate these illegal deportations from the Greek Aegean islands, it’s not very difficult to find witnesses who can confirm these cases, 3 men from the case of December 6 and 22 people from October 20 are now living in the camp on Lesvos, together with hundreds Møre with similar experiences. Strangely enough, after such serious accusations, nobody, not the Greek authorities nor the EU commission has found it necessary to perform such investigations, we can only wonder why not..

Also locals on these islands have observed these “refugee hunters” roaming around on the islands, driving unmarked vehicles without license plates, walking around with balaclavas, carrying guns, but Greek authorities are claiming they are not working for the authorities.. Then who are these commandos working for and why are not Greek authorities interested in stopping these “vigilants”, again we can only wonder..

It’s also a fact that these men in dark uniforms, without any distinction, wearing balaclavas, is also seen on several Greek coast guard vessels, it’s a bit strange if Greek authorities don’t know who are operating their vessels, not only strange but highly unlikely.

At the moment Greek authorities are more interested in criminalizing organizations who are documenting these crimes performed by Greek authorities, than to investigate these violations of international laws and human rights. They launch investigations based on made up charges, leak false accusations to the government friendly press, who without questions publish these lies.

Greek authorities are criminalizing frontline defenders who expose the true face of this right wing government, in a futile effort to discredit their accusers. Anyone criticizing the Greek authorities, politicians, journalists, lawyers or organizations are considered an enemy of the state, they are called out for being human traffickers, spies, Turkish agitators and running criminal networks, all this because we are exposing their crimes for the whole world to see.

The use of spyware against critics and opposition, intimidations, control of the press, violence, criminalization of organizations and individuals who expose them, promoting nationalism and racism, these are well know tactics of a fascistic regime, not a European democracy.

So far over 50.000 people’s rights have been violated by Greek authorities in the Aegean Sea, men women and children threatened, beaten and killed as a result of the Greek “final solution” on border management, this is not the European way of life, nor represents our common European values.

In the morning of December 2, at 07.00, a boat carrying approximately 40 people arrived west of Tarti, Lesvos south.

After arriving the group quickly moved away from the beach, afraid to be found by police and illegally returned to Turkey.

The group walked for hours toward higher ground, believed they would be safer if they just managed to get as far away from the sea as possible, unfortunately they were spotted by a local farmer, and he most likely alerted the authorities.

The group didn’t move very quickly, and around 2 pm, two masked men in dark uniforms carrying guns found them, everyone was ordered to get down on the ground, if anyone tried to run they would be shot, the masked men shouted several times. In the chaos that followed some from the group managed to run away, but most, 26 people, was arrested by Greek police.

One guarded the group while the other called for reinforcements, soon 7 more men arrived, all with their faces hidden behind black balaclavas, all carrying guns.

The group was thoroughly searched, especially the young woman. At gunpoint they had to strip naked, in front of everyone, while the commandos search them between the legs, laughing while doing so, it seemed to amuse them, it was an horrific ordeal.

One by one everyone was searched before handcuffed with black plastic strips, what little they had was taken away from them, bags, money, papers and phones. Those who tried to hide something or didn’t obey orders given immediately, was beaten, everyone was terrified, many was crying, begging for their lives, others was in shock.

Later some of the people from the group explained that this was exactly the kind of terror that made them flee their home country in the first place, they didn’t expect to be treated like worthless animals when they arrived in Europe, to be threatened, beaten, violated and humiliated in the worst way imaginable, it was shocking.

The group was eventually taken to small road, where a dark blue van was waiting. They had difficulty describing the van, but they said it had a logo on it similar to the logo on the uniform the men was wearing, they called it a “prison van”. Everyone was forced in like cattle to the slaughter, it was done again by force, hitting and shooting seemed to be the preferred method to get people in line.

The van didn’t drive far, first on a bumpy road, then on asphalt, before going back on a bumpy road and shortly after stopping. They stayed locked up inside the van for a while, and when the doors finally opened, the shouting and screaming ones again started.

Looking up they could see that they were back down by the sea, at some small port, and a gray military boat was docked at a small concrete pier. The men shouted “ look down and be quiet”, those who didn’t obey was hit with sticks. The group was marched down to the boat in a single line, one by one they were taken onboard the military boat and placed in the front of the boat, on deck.

The men onboard the military vessel was wearing similar dark uniforms, their faces covered with balaclavas, some carrying guns while others had shotguns. They could observe 7 men, but said there was more people inside the boat that they didn’t see. Everyone was again told to sit quietly with their face down, anyone looking up or trying to speak got a severe beating.

Later when we spoke with the victims over the phone, they described the vessel as gray and white with blue and white stripes on the side, and the number 618 written on the side of the vessel.

The boat is identified as a POB-24G Faiakas class patrol vessel, the ΛΣ-618 belongs to the Hellenic coast guard and is stationed on Lesvos. This vessels together with five other was ordered in 2014, 75% financed through the European External Border Fund, paid for from mostly EU taxpayers money.

This particular vessel, nr 618, has been involved in numerous illegal pushback operations over several years in the Aegean Sea, well documented cases have been published without any actions taken by Greek authorities or the European Union to investigate these serious allegations.

After a short trip the vessel stopped in the middle of the sea, the masked men inflated two life rafts and ripped off the orange cover leaving only the black tubes. People was crying, begging for mercy, but in vain, everyone was forced into these two rafts, 26 people, men, women and children, was left helplessly drifting at sea by the Greek Coast Guard.

Lucky and miraculously one of the men had managed to hide his phone, exactly how he didn’t say, but with this phone he called and informed the Turkish coast guard through the international emergency number 112. After they also called Aegean Boat Report, and informed of their situation, providing pictures, videos and location to document what just had happen to them.

Shortly after, at 17.40, 26 people was found drifting outside Dikili, Turkey, by the Turkish Coast Guard, in two Greek manufactured life rafts, 20 Liberians, 3 Ugandans, 2 Congolese and one from Ghanaand was taken back to Turkey, the country they had fled from earlier the same day.

9 people from this group was registered in the refugee camp on Lesvos the following day, four more the day after. How they managed to escape and how they ended up in camp we don’t know, non of them have been in contact with us so we can not tell their story.

If this had been an isolated incident it would indeed have been shocking, it’s illegal according to international law and a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and the Refugee Convention of 1951. But unfortunately this is not an isolated incident, and nobody seems to care anymore that thousands of people’s human rights has been violated on the border of Europe, pushbacks have become border management, and nobody seems to want to do anything about it.

Since March 2020, we have registtered 1860 pushback cases in the Aegean Sea, performed by the Hellenic coast guard, involving 49.237 men, women and children, 658 of these cases was performed by using rescue equipment/life rafts, 17.060 people was left drifting in 1.012 life rafts in the Aegean Sea.

Almost 50.000 people pushed back at sea, thousands killed, and EU politicians seems unwilling or unable to do anything about it, is this our values, the European way of life?

Aegean Boat Report is a participant of the fundraising campaign #StrongerTogether by #LeaveNoOneBehind, you can support by donating on our campaign site.

We Are #StrongerTogether!

In the morning of Thursday, November 10, a boat carrying 33 people landed west of Gavathas, Lesvos north west.

The flimsy rubber boat had started out from Turkey in cover of darkness, 33 people packed into this small boat, people with hopes for a better future, away from war and persecution, to finally be able to be safe, or it was at least what they had hoped for.

After arriving people fled to the Woodson in the surrounding area to hide from Greek authorities, fearing that if they were found they would be illegally returned to Turkey.

At 09.00 they contacted Aegean Boat Report and asked for assistance, they wanted help so that they could be taken to a camp, and be able to apply for asylum, but they were afraid of Greek authorities and Police, since they had been violently pushed back several times in the past.

The group provided pictures, videos and geolocation data, there was no doubt that this group also had arrived on Lesvos.

We provide them with the necessary means, so that they themselves could act, what happened afterwards is not clear, since we lost contact with them shortly after. The last thing they said before they went offline was that they would contact organizations on the island, if they actually did, we don’t know.

Due to the fact that this group arrived on a weekend, means that they would have had problems finding an organization who would respond on the phone, even do they were given numbers who usually works, these numbers are mostly only operational on weekdays, during daytime.

What we do know is that this group never made it to any camp, they were found by authorities and removed from the island. This is what usually happens when Greek authorities finds people who has arrived, and there is no organization to intervene.

At 20.05 Thursday November 10, 33 people was found drifting in two life rafts outside Dikili, Turkey, families, old people, women, children, even small babies was forced into these two rafts without life jackets.

From pictures sent to us while they were on Lesvos, we can clearly see that they had belongings, bags. When they were found drifting in the rafts outside Dikili 10 hours later, they had nothing, what little they had left in life was stolen from them, bags, papers, money and phones, taken by the same people who forced them back out to sea, the Greek coast guard.

From pictures and videos received while on Lesvos, compared to pictures and videos from the time they were rescued by Turkish coast guard outside Dikili, there is absolutely no doubt: it is the same group.

For normal people, it’s actually quite difficult to comprehend, that a European country, a member of the European Union, would force families, small children, women, old people who can barely walk, back out to sea in the middle of the night, throw them into life rafts and leave them helplessly drifting. When we also know that these atrocities are supported by the European Border And Coast Guard Agency FRONTEX, and handsomely funded by The European Union, it just gets totally incomprehensible.

Why would anyone do such a thing, and why would nobody try to stop it? it’s not as if nobody knows, everyone knows what is being done at Europes borders, it’s not a secret, not any more. EU border agency Frontex and Greek authorities, has been proven to have been involved in hundreds of refugee pushbacks in the Aegean Sea, investigated by EU’s own Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF, and what has so far been done about this, absolutely nothing.

Since March 2020, we have registered 1.826 pushback cases in the Aegean Sea, performed by the Hellenic coast guard, involving 48.486 men, women and children: 642 of these cases was performed by using rescue equipment/life rafts, 16,754 people have so far been found drifting in 993 life rafts in the Aegean Sea.

Almost 1000 life rafts with families, men, women and children who tried to seek safety in Europe, close to 17.000 people, have been found drifting in the Aegean Sea, and so far nobody has bothered to try to do anything about it, if that’s not deafening, noting is.

Just imagine if just one of these life rafts, just one, had been found drifting in the English Channel, placed there by the British authorities, there would have been a political outcry demanding answers, heads would have rolled, huge investigations would have been undertaken. For the almost 1000 life rafts found drifting in the Aegean Sea the last three years, close to 17.000 victims, not one single official investigation has been carried out, not one.

We all know who is responsible, question is, why is nothing done to try to stop it?

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