At 9am on 26 April, a boat carrying 53 people landed on Agios Theodorous beach, east of Korakas, in north Lesvos. Thirty-five of the 53 travelling people were reported to be children. The group contacted Aegean Boat Report so their arrival could be documented. They reported no medical needs, and because of this and theContinue reading “Fifty-three more men, women and children have been lied to, beaten and expelled from Greece by uniformed police officers who told them they would be taken for COVID testing and quarantine.”
Category Archives: Blog
Pushbacks is no longer even the “new normal”: it is just “normal”
Fifty-one people on a boat north east of Korakas, Lesvos north were stopped by the Greek coastguard and towed from Greek waters on 14 April. Some of the people aboard called Aegean Boat Report at 7.30am. They were screaming on the phone, begging for help. The videos and pictures they sent us clearly showed thatContinue reading “Pushbacks is no longer even the “new normal”: it is just “normal””
This Will Forever Be a Stain On European History
Several boats carrying refugees tried to cross from Turkey to the Greek Aegean island of Lesvos on 2 April. In at least five incidents, more than 200 people were stopped and pushed back by the Hellenic coast guard, as previously reported by Aegean Boat Report. Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarachi, made aContinue reading “This Will Forever Be a Stain On European History”
Another Day, Another Pushback, It Never Ends..
In the early hours of Saturday 3 April, a rubber boat started out from Balabanli, Ayvacik, carrying 27 people, 11 children and 16 adults, destination Lesvos north. After several hours at sea in the dark, only 450 metres from land east of Megala Therma, Lesvos north, their engine started to malfunction, they contacted Aegean BoatContinue reading “Another Day, Another Pushback, It Never Ends..”
Over 200 People Pushed Back Outside Lesvos on April 2
Before first light on 2 April, Aegean Boat Reported was contacted by several people claiming to be in the need of rescue in different locations in the sea area around Lesvos. Some had been pushed back, engines removed from their vessels, drifting. One was being towed towards Turkish waters, and others were forced back overContinue reading “Over 200 People Pushed Back Outside Lesvos on April 2”
” I Felt like An Animal On The Way To Slaughter”
In the early hours of Tuesday, 30 March, 37 people started out from Ayvalik, Turkey, in a rubber boat and headed towards Lesvos north east. The wind and current in the area pushed them due south west. After two hours the boat’s engine stopped and they called for help, still in Turkish waters, drifting slowlyContinue reading “” I Felt like An Animal On The Way To Slaughter””
Madam Commissioner, we are here to help
Dear Madam Commissioner, Ms Johansson, We watched your press conference this afternoon (29 March 2021) with interest and – we have to say – no little disappointment. It was heartening to hear both you and Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachis promise that the ‘closed camps’ on the Aegean islands Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros and KosContinue reading “Madam Commissioner, we are here to help”
The Pushbacks Continue
A rubber boat carrying 57 people contacted Aegean Boat Report at 2.30 this morning (Sunday 28 March 2021) for assistance. They reported that there were 28 children in the boat. At 3.57am, they were stopped by a vessel from the Hellenic coast guard, an orange boat, they explained, with SAR 511 written on the side,Continue reading “The Pushbacks Continue”
One Year On: We Need Your Help, Commissioner
Dear Madam Commissioner, Ms Johansson, Welcome back to Greece. We hope you will enjoy your time here, but we are afraid we must let you know that since your last visit, just over a year ago, things have not been going well. While you were away From 1 March 2020 (which we know wasContinue reading “One Year On: We Need Your Help, Commissioner”
End illegal, immoral and potentially lethal pushbacks now!
‘At least three – and in fact almost certainly four – men died on Friday 19 March 2021. They drowned having been adrift as part of a group of seven people in the Aegean Sea in a life-raft identical to those used by the Greek government for illegal push-backs. All seven had been cuffed withContinue reading “End illegal, immoral and potentially lethal pushbacks now!”