Aegean Boat Report

Last updated


Aegean Boat Report (ABR) is a Norwegian NGO [1] that monitors and shares data about the movement of people in the Aegean Sea. As well as sharing data with aid organisations working directly with men, women and children seeking safety, Aegean Boat Report works to ensure the safety and security of those people, and shares regular updates with the public, to ensure the widest possible group of people are aware of what is happening to people attempting to reach safety from war, terrorism, violence and other oppression. ABR uses its data to lead on advocacy and legal challenges to promote and safeguard international law, and to protect the lives of men, women and children crossing to the EU.

Contents

Advocacy and Pushbacks

Although pushbacks – the practice of forcing men, women and children back from Greek territory without giving them the opportunity to apply for asylum, or the equally-illegal practice of forcing people out of Greece into countries in which there is good reason to believe they will be persecuted, tortured, or killed – were being carried out by the Greek almost from the beginning of the Aegean refugee response, in March 2020, the practice accelerated [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

From 1 March 2020 to 30 April 2021, 12,741 men, women and children were pushed back from Greek waters or the Aegean islands by the Greek government. [7] In the same period, just 4,974 people were registered by the government as 'new arrivals' [8]

In most cases, those people were forced onto inflatable life rafts and set adrift at sea. Many were beaten, all were robbed of their possessions, some died, and all had their lives deliberately put at risk by the Greek government. The government, for its part, argues that all claims that pushbacks have taken place are 'fake news' developed by the Turkish government, and that all NGOs, national or international media and the UN, which have reported pushbacks, have either been fooled into doing so, or are engaged in a conspiracy against Greece. Simultaneously, the government has repeatedly told Greek media it is 'Greece's right' to prevent people landing in Greece, and to remove those who do, despite this being in direct breach of international law.

Aegean Boat Report has become an outspoken advocate on this illegal practice, including in national and international media, [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] as well as in legal debates on issues related to people-movement. [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] Its work is also central to an upcoming case to be heard at the European Court of Human Rights, after two children were allegedly told they would be taken to quarantine after arriving on Samos on 18 September 2020, and were instead forced into a life raft and set adrift by Greek uniformed officers. [30]

Greek government response

The Greek government's response to Aegean Boat Report's work to protect the rights and lives of men, women and children seeking safety after fleeing war, terror, chaos and oppression, has been negative.

In early December 2020, during the global Coronavirus pandemic's second wave and in the midst of a series of media exposés - many revealed by ABR - of illegal pushbacks carried out by the Greek police and coastguards, [17] Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachis held an invite-only international press briefing.

The focus of this briefing was Mitarachis' claim that three international non-governmental organisations were engaged in 'smuggling' refugees from Turkey to Greece, and that Aegean Boat Report was 'at the heart' of this activity.

The 'evidence' Mitarachis presented to back this claim was thin: one video, shot in an unnamed place, at an unnamed time, in a white-walled room with no distinguishing features, with two young Somalians who said that they had contacted Aegean Boat Report when in distress at sea.

Not only was no information offered about the circumstances under which this video was shot (the young men/boys did not appear to have any legal representation during the shooting of the scene, and it is far from clear what led to them agreeing to be videoed, or whether they agreed the Greek government could release this video to international media), even what they said did not suggest any wrongdoing by ABR or the other two named NGOs.

It is not illegal to cross borders with or without paperwork if one applies for asylum as soon as possible after arriving, [31] [32] and it was not revealed whether the videoed boys had made such an application. More importantly, and specifically, the boys did not at any point claim that ABR had played any part in their crossing from Turkey to Greece, only that when they feared they were in trouble, they called ABR to attempt to find a safe place to land (at this point, ABR still informed the Greek Coastguard if it received news of any new arrivals, so the coastguard could bring them to safety and help them enter the legal asylum system).

Despite this lack of evidence, many news organisations chose to carry the story, naming ABR and in many cases the other two organisations Mitarachis had smeared.

Some Greek news media named Tommy Olsen as an individual, and published his photograph.

The organisation responded by setting the record straight, in a statement available in full on its website in which it explained that, far from acting illegally, it in fact assisted the legal system to work correctly by helping ensure that people in need of asylum entered the legal application process.

Its statement included the points:

'We are astonished to have been the focus of an unprovoked and deliberately misleading attack on our organisation.

'Aegean Boat Report, in common with all aid organisations working to help the Greek government and the EU with the refugee response in Greece, strongly opposes people smuggling between Turkey and Greece.

'We are not, never have been and never will be part of any smuggling network and we do not work, have never worked, and will never work with any person or people smuggling people on any route, in any part of the world.'

ABR also contacted the news organisations which had carried the story. Almost all, when having been advised of the reality of the situation, made corrections [33] while many others ran new stories. [34] The Times of London apologised to ABR, altered its story to reflect the reality, and withdrew the story entirely after two days. Only two sites – both of which are known for their backing of Greece's Nea Dimokratia government, to which Mitarachis belongs - refused to publish corrections. Even they altered their stories. ABR added:

'We must request the Minister ceases his baseless allegations, and advise him that if he wishes to allege we have acted illegally or improperly he must produce something more than a small number of refugees saying that smugglers in Turkey know the name 'Aegean Boat Report' and tell them if they attempt to contact us they will be given dry clothing and a bottle of water.'We have broken no law, we do not work with anyone who does, and it is inexplicable that a Minister of the Greek government would seek to launch such a wild attack on a small organisation trying to ensure that people forced by Greek and EU policy to take dangerous journeys presided over by criminals do not die and are not lost to the system.'

Withdrawal of information from Hellenic Coastguard

In March 2021, Aegean Boat Report said it must suspend its previous practice of informing the Greek coastguard of the whereabouts of boats carrying refugees, which it had done up until then to help ensure their safety, because the Greek government had now changed the nature of the coastguard from a life-saving service, to a force designed to deny people's human rights, and endanger their lives.

On 16 March 2021, in a message posted on Twitter, it said:

'We regret that as of this week, we will no longer share with Greek port police the locations of people seeking asylum in Greece, because of the Greek government's illegal, immoral and unacceptable pushbacks of refugees from its borders.'

A more detailed statement on its website added:

'Since March 2020, the Greek government's field operatives have pushed 10,656 men, women and children back from Greek waters – and in many cases Greek land and even refugee camps in Greece – into Turkish waters: a clear, direct, immoral and unacceptable breach of international law and of all of our rights as human beings.

'We do not feel it is possible for us to continue to assist the Greek port police and the Greek government by providing them with this information, for as long as they continue to behave in this unacceptable, unjustifiable, and illegal way.

'As soon as the Greek government ceases to break the law, we will of course be very happy to return to helping them as we do the men, women and children seeking safety and fleeing violence and oppression elsewhere in the world.'

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frontex</span> Agency of the European Union tasked with external border control

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, commonly known as Frontex, is an agency of the European Union headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. In coordination with the border and coast guards of member states, it exercises border control of the European Schengen Area, a task within the area of freedom, security and justice domain. Formally, the Agency's remit is to "support Member States on the ground in their efforts to protect the external borders"; it does not have authority to act otherwise unless "external border control" [by a member state] "is rendered ineffective to such an extent that it risks jeopardising the functioning of the Schengen area".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration to Italy</span>

In 2021, Istat estimated that 5,171,894 foreign citizens lived in Italy, representing about 8.7% of the total population. These figures include naturalized foreign-born residents as well as illegal immigrants, the so-called clandestini, whose numbers, difficult to determine, are thought to be at least 670,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illegal entry</span> Act of entering a country in violation of its laws

Illegal entry is the act of foreign nationals arriving in or crossing the borders into a country in violation of its immigration law. Human smuggling is the practice of aiding people in crossing international borders for financial gain, often in large groups. Human smuggling is associated with human trafficking. A human smuggler will facilitate illegal entry into a country for a fee, but on arrival at their destination, the smuggled person is usually free. Trafficking involves physical force, fraud, or deception to obtain and transport people, usually for enslavement or forced prostitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">December 2007 Seferihisar, Turkey, migrant boat disaster</span>

The December 2007 Seferihisar, Turkey migrant boat disaster occurred in the night of 8 December 2007 when a 15-meter dinghy boat carrying illegal migrants who were trying to reach the island of Chios, Greece, capsized due to bad sea conditions off the coast of Seferihisar, İzmir Province, western Turkey, resulting in forty to sixty deaths, sources varying on the exact number of casualties, among the boat's occupants. It is the single largest maritime incident in terms of loss of lives and involving migrants in the Aegean Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Aegean Sea yacht and dinghy capsizing</span> Capsizing of migrant boats in the Aegean Sea

On 5 May 2014, a yacht and a dinghy, both overcrowded and carrying migrants destined for Greece, capsized about four nautical miles off the coast of the Greek island of Samos, in the Aegean Sea. The vessels had been trying to enter Greece illegally at the time they overturned. The cause of the capsizing remains unclear, since weather conditions at the time and place where it occurred were said to have been relatively good.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 European migrant crisis</span> 2010s refugee crisis in the European Union

The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe, namely from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request asylum, the most in a single year since World War II. They were mostly Syrians, but also included a significant number of people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Eritrea, and the Balkans. The increase in asylum seekers has been attributed to factors such as the escalation of various wars in the Middle East and ISIL's territorial and military dominance in the region due to the Arab Winter, as well as Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt ceasing to accept Syrian asylum seekers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the 2015 European migrant crisis</span>

This is a timeline of the European migrant crisis of 2015 and 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proactiva Open Arms</span>

Proactiva Open Arms (POA) is a Spanish NGO devoted to search and rescue (SAR) at sea. Set up in October 2015, it carried out its first rescue action that same month from its base on the Greek island of Lesbos. As well as maintaining a permanent base on Lesbos, the NGO carries out its rescue operations from three ships, a sailing yacht Astral, the Golfo Azzurro and Open Arms.

An increasing number of refugees and migrants have been entering the United Kingdom illegally by crossing the English Channel in the last decades. The Strait of Dover section between Dover in England and Calais in France represents the shortest sea crossing, and is a long-established shipping route. The shortest distance across the strait, at approximately 20 miles, is from the South Foreland, northeast of Dover in the English county of Kent, to Cap Gris Nez, a cape near to Calais in the French département of Pas-de-Calais.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libyan Coast Guard</span> Military unit

The Libyan Coast Guard is the coast guard of Libya. Organizationally part of the Libyan Navy, it operates as a proxy force of the European Union (EU) in order to prevent migrants from reaching the EU's borders. As of 2015, the Libyan Coast Guard consists of over 1,000 personnel. Since 2015, it has received $455 million in funding from the EU. The Libyan Coast Guard is involved in human trafficking, enslavement, torture, and other human rights violations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greece–Turkey border</span> International border

The Greece–Turkey border is around 200 kilometres (120 mi) long, and separates Western Thrace in Greece from East Thrace in Turkey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkish migrant crisis</span> Migrant crisis experienced by the Republic of Turkey in the 2010s

The Turkish migrant crisis, sometimes referred to as the Turkish refugee crisis, was a period during the 2010s characterised by a high number of people migrating to Turkey. Turkey received the highest number of registered refugees of any country or territory each year from 2014 to 2019, and had the world's largest refugee population according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The majority were refugees of the Syrian Civil War, numbering 3.6 million as of June 2020. In 2018, the UNHCR reported that Turkey hosted 63.4% of all "registered Syrian refugees."

The migration and asylum policy of the European Union is within the area of freedom, security and justice, established to develop and harmonise principles and measures used by member countries of the European Union to regulate migration processes and to manage issues concerning asylum and refugee status in the European Union.

Pushback is a term that refers to "a set of state measures by which refugees and migrants are forced back over a border – generally immediately after they crossed it – without consideration of their individual circumstances and without any possibility to apply for asylum". Pushbacks violate the prohibition of collective expulsion of asylum seekers in Protocol 4 in countries party to the European Convention on Human Rights and often violate the international law prohibition on non-refoulement.

Since at least 2008, Greece has pushed back tens of thousands of migrants, especially at the Evros border with Turkey and in the Aegean Sea. On land, the pushbacks involve taking people who have arrived at the Greek side of the border and transferring them to the Turkish side; most cases involve some form of abuse. Maritime pushbacks typically involve taking migrants who have either entered Greek territorial waters or landed on Greek islands and depositing them in Turkish territorial waters on craft without any means of propulsion. The number of pushbacks has increased following the European migrant crisis and breakdown in EU–Turkey relations in 2020. This incident occurred as a result of Turkey ceasing to prevent migrants from leaving for the European Union in February 2020, and in some instances actively encouraging them.

On 24 November 2021, an inflatable dinghy carrying migrants from France to the United Kingdom capsized in the English Channel causing the deaths of 27 of the 30 people on board. It is believed to be the deadliest incident in the English Channel since the International Organization for Migration began collecting data in 2014.

Externalization describes the efforts of wealthy, developed countries to prevent asylum seekers and other migrants from reaching their borders, often by enlisting third countries or private entities. Externalization is used by Australia, Canada, the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom. Although less visible than physical barriers at international borders, externalization controls or restricts mobility in ways that are out of sight and far from the country's border. Examples include visa restrictions, sanctions for carriers that transport asylum seekers, and agreements with source and transit countries. Consequences often include increased irregular migration, human smuggling, and border deaths.

Channel Rescue is a British human rights organisation, focused on monitoring the British government's response to the English Channel migrant crossings.

The European Union response to the 2015 migrant crisis focused on how the countries organized the efforts in response to the 2015 European migrant crisis at the EU level. The European Commission in May 2015 proposed distributing the incoming refugees based on GDP and population. This proposal was divisive with Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic refusing any refugees. Some nation states then called on the EU to reduce funding for member countries who did not want to share burdens and didn't share "values...need to start asking themselves questions about their place in the European Union". This attempt to coalition build failed, the European Commission proceeded to strengthen existing systems such as the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), reforming the Dublin Regulation and centralizing the asylum process. There was also challenges to the European borders which came from the Mediterranean Sea; as a response the European Border and Coast Guard Agency engaged in a new operation called Operation Triton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Messenia migrant boat disaster</span> Sinking in the Ionian Sea off the Greek coast

On 14 June 2023, an Italy-bound fishing trawler smuggling migrants sank in international waters in the part of the Mediterranean known as the Ionian Sea, off the coast of Pylos, Messenia, Greece. The boat, named Adriana, which had a capacity of 400 people, carried an estimated 400 to 750 migrants, mostly from Pakistan, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, and some from Afghanistan. After departing from Tobruk, Libya, on 10 June, concerns were raised by 13 June, with the vessel then located in the Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) zone assigned to Greece. The Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG) helicopter and later the HCG vessel ΠΠΛΣ-920 arrived on scene, took aerial photos of the vessel, made offers of assistance that were allegedly refused, then remained there as an observer until the boat capsized and sank. After the Adriana had sunk "close to the deepest part of the Mediterranean Sea", the HCG and the military initiated a massive search and rescue operation. One hundred and four men were rescued, and 82 bodies were recovered. By 18 June, officials had acknowledged that over 500 people were "presumed dead."

References

  1. ↑ Gall, Carlotta (18 July 2021). "'They Just Left Us': Greece Is Accused of Setting Migrants Adrift at Sea". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  2. ↑ "UNHCR concerned by pushback reports, calls for protection of refugees and asylum-seekers". UNHCR Greece. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  3. ↑ "Turvapaikanhakijoiden veneiden käännyttäminen takaisin merelle näyttää kiihtyvän Kreikassa – norjalaisjärjestöllä tiedossa yli 300 tapausta". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  4. ↑ "Grecia expulsa colectivamente a más de 700 solicitantes de asilo ante el silencio cómplice de la Unión Europea". www.publico.es. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  5. ↑ "Επαναπροωθούν πρόσφυγες στα νησιά με ειδικές θαλάσσιες σκηνές". Η Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών (in Greek). Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  6. ↑ "Greece accused of 'pushing back' migrants at sea to Turkey". euronews. 2020-09-25. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  7. ↑ "Pushbacks | Koraki". mysite. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  8. ↑ "National situational picture regarding the islands at Eastern Aegean Sea Archives". SECRETARIAT FOR CRISIS MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  9. ↑ "Griekenland duwt vluchtelingen terug de zee op; deze Noor toont hoe dat gaat". NU (in Dutch). 2021-05-08. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  10. ↑ SPIEGEL, Steffen Lüdke, Giorgos Christides, DER. "Videos and Eyewitness Accounts: Greece Apparently Abandoning Refugees at Sea". www.spiegel.de. Retrieved 2021-05-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ Psaropoulos, John. "Refugee pushbacks: Greece prepares to indict whistleblowers". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  12. ↑ "L'uomo che documenta la guerra della Grecia contro i rifugiati". Rolling Stone Italia (in Italian). 2021-04-21. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  13. ↑ Istanbul, Hannah Lucinda Smith. "Masked gangs terrify migrants as they force boats in Aegean back to Turkey". The Times . ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  14. ↑ "Afghan asylum family beaten in Greece, set adrift at sea". EUobserver. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  15. ↑ "Les migrants accusent la Grèce de les refouler en mer". BBC News Afrique (in French). 2020-12-15. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  16. ↑ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "SPIEGEL: "Νέες παράνομες επαναπροωθήσεις στο Αιγαίο" | DW | 09.12.2020". DW.COM (in Greek). Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  17. 1 2 Christides, Giorgos; Freudenthal, Emmanuel; Lüdke, Steffen (2020-12-08). "Griechenland setzt Geflüchtete nach Ankunft auf Lesbos auf dem Meer aus". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN   2195-1349 . Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  18. ↑ "'We were left in the sea': asylum seekers forced off Lesbos". the Guardian. 2021-03-19. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  19. ↑ Chaldaiou, Sofia (21 December 2020). "Προσφυγικό : Καταγγελία για βίαιο pushback – Τους έσπασαν στο ξύλο και τους γύρισαν πίσω στην Τουρκία". in.gr . Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  20. ↑ "Επαναπροώθηση από κρατική δομή στη Λέσβο". Η Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών (in Greek). Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  21. ↑ "Familien trodde de var trygge i gresk farvann. Da kom kystvakten og tauet dem ut igjen". www.aftenposten.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  22. ↑ Lever, Emily (2 May 2021). "Advocates Decry Prosecution Of Refugees In Greece". law360.com .
  23. ↑ Kitsantonis, Niki; Specia, Megan (2020-11-18). "Asylum Seeker Who Lost His Son on Trek to Greece Is Charged in His Death". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  24. ↑ "Tents at Sea: How Greek Officials Use Rescue Equipment for Illegal Deportations". Just Security. 2020-05-22. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  25. ↑ tagesschau.de. "Griechenland: Fahrlässige Flucht über die Ägäis?". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  26. ↑ "An Afghan asylum-seeker lost his son in tragic boat journey to Greece. Now, he faces prison time". The World from PRX. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  27. ↑ "Migranti. I soccorsi tardano, il piccolo Yahya annega. Il padre arrestato dai greci". www.avvenire.it (in Italian). 2020-11-25. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  28. ↑ "Afghan migrant, charged with endangering his son's life in Greece, speaks out". InfoMigrants. 2021-03-18. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  29. ↑ NTB-AP, Av. "Fortvilet far tiltalt for at sønnen (5) døde på flukt". Vårt Land (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  30. ↑ "Greek 'pushbacks' brought to European court after child refugees 'towed out to sea and abandoned in raft'" . The Independent. 2021-03-04. Archived from the original on 2021-03-04. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  31. ↑ "Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees". UNHCR. 1958. Article 31, pg. 29. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  32. ↑ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". United Nations. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  33. ↑ "NGO rejects minister's claim of assisting people smugglers". eKathimerini.com. 2020-12-09. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  34. ↑ Beemsterboer, Toon (30 December 2020). "How a Norwegian from above the Arctic Circle helps migrants on Lesvos". De Standaard. Archived from the original on Jan 27, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.