Alarm Phone witnessed armed attacks on 6 boats in the Aegean Sea
Bi-weekly Alarm Phone Report 5-18 October 2015
In the past two weeks the Alarm Phone witnessed awful and inacceptable
forms of violence committed against travellers at sea. In the Western
Mediterranean we directly witnessed how several groups of travellers
were forcefully intercepted and detained, with one group being even
deported to the Moroccan border to Mauretania. In the Aegean Sea,
travellers informed us about six attacks on boats in Greek territorial
waters. In all of these cases, armed and masked forces supposedly of the
Greek coastguard beat travellers, stabbed their rubber boats and
disabled or stole their engines. Afterwards, they would push them back
and leave them behind in Turkish waters, in serious danger of capsizing.
The human rights NGO Human Rights Watch also documented several such
attacks on boats in the last couple of weeks.[i]
These attacks were just the tip of the iceberg with respect to the
violence reported from other sources. As reported from Morocco, in the
camp of Boukhalef, Moroccan police forces attacked the dwellers and
destroyed their tents.[ii] In Spain, the Spanish navy again blocked and
pushed back a boat in distress until Moroccan authorities intercepted
it.[iii] From Bulgaria it is reported that an Afghani man was shot dead
by the Bulgarian border police during a control.[iv]
Despite these inacceptable acts of violence, the number of travellers
trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea is on a constant high. With the
winter season approaching and conditions at sea worsening, thousands of
travellers risk their lives in order to arrive in EU territory. In the
last week, the numbers of arrivals in Greece even exceeded the numbers
of the summer months, with up to 10.000 per day. In one day alone, on
Sunday the 18th of October, the Greek coastguard rescued more than 90
boats already by midday. However, last week also saw the death of at
least 25 travellers in several shipwrecks in the Aegean Sea, half of it
children and infants.[v]
We witness all these dramatic and unnecessary scenes of European border
violence as well as the enactment of the freedom to move by the
thousands when, at the same time, EU leaders desperately seek to
re-stabilise their border regime. Besides the installation of the
infamous ‘hotspots’ in Greece and Italy, the EU is now also drawing the
Turkish government more closely into its system of deterrence, urging
the Turkish president Erdoğan to prevent travellers from crossing the
Aegean Sea on boats. We know, already ever since the EU border regime
was created, that these measures will not prevent people from moving but
it will make unauthorised human movement even more lengthy, costly,
dangerous and deadly. In the light of these developments we call for
safe and legal ways to Europe and we also demand independent
investigations of the violent attacks and push-backs in the Aegean Sea
which deliberately endangered the lives of hundreds of travellers
seeking protection and shelter in Europe.
Summary of cases
In the past two weeks, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 96 emergency
situations in total, 90 of which occurred in the Aegean Sea, 1 in the
Central Mediterranean and 5 in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Summaries
and links to the individual reports can be found below.
Western Mediterranean Sea
In the afternoon of Thursday the 08th of October 2015 a contact person
forwarded the number of a boat in distress in the Western Mediterranean
Sea to the Alarm Phone. We talked directly to the travellers at 3pm, 10
people on a rubber boat. In a call to the Spanish maritime rescue
organization Salvamento Maritimo we learned that both, the Spanish
coastguard and the Moroccan navy were already searching for the boat in
distress. At 3.31pm the travellers confirmed to us, that the Moroccan
navy had intercepted them (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/295).
Also on Thursday the 08th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone was informed
about more than 120 persons being deported in three buses from the
border fence in Ceuta/Spain to the border between Morocco and
Mauretania. The Alarm Phone informed its contact persons in Morocco and
reported on Twitter about the ongoing deportation. Later we learned that
one part of the group was brought to Tiznit and the other to several
camps (see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/296).
On Wednesday, the 14th of October 2015, the Alarm Phone was alerted to
two cases in the Western Mediterranean. Both boats were intercepted by
the Moroccan Navy, but in one case the rescue was delayed for hours,
when the Spanish Salvamento Maritimo and the Moroccan Navy were unable
to agree on their responsibilities to conduct the rescue operation (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/312).
On Friday, the 16th of October 2015, the Alarm Phone was alerted to one
case in the Western Mediterranean Sea. A man from Morocco called us
around 1am and told us that friends of his had left Tangier on Thursday
night around 10pm. We alerted Salvamento Maritimo at 2.30am, but at 7am
we learned that a Moroccan patrol boat had picked up a boat with 11
persons on board (see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/308).
Central Mediterranean Sea
On Monday the 5th of October 2015 Father Mussie Zerai alerted the Alarm
Phone to two boats in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea. We had
direct contact to one of them and eventually the rescue of both boats
could be confirmed. On that day, according to the Italian coastguard,
several rescue vessels had saved a total of 1830 travellers (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/294).
Aegean Sea
On Monday the 5th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone dealt with five
situations of distress in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek islands of
Chios and Lesvos. While the Greek coastguard rescued one vessel, in one
case the Turkish coastguard conducted a rescue operation and in three
cases the travellers were able to move on independently (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/297).
On Tuesday the 6th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone witnessed a violent
attack on a boat in distress near the Greek island of Lesvos that was
subsequently pushed back into Turkish waters. Beyond that, we dealt with
two emergency situations, in which one boat was rescued by the Turkish
coastguard and one by the Greeks (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/298).
On Wednesday the 7th of September 2015 the Alarm Phone was alerted to
three boats in distress in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek islands of
Lesvos, Chios and on Astypalaia. Again, one boat was attacked by the
Greek coastguard near Lesvos and subsequently pushed back into Turkish
territorial waters. The travellers reported en detail about these
violent acts and the Alarm Phone will forward the details of the case to
the Greek ministry to ask for further investigations and to human rights
NGOs to follow-up (see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/299).
On Thursday the 8th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone was alerted to five
situations of distress in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek island of
Lesvos, Samos and Agathonisi. The Greek coastguard rescued two groups of
travellers while three other groups were returned to Turkey. Turkish
fishermen had rescued one group and another group was rescued by the
Turkish coastguard (see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/300).
On Friday the 9th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone dealt with five
emergency situations in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek island of Chios,
Lesvos and Samos. While one boat arrived on Lesvos independently, the
Turkish coastguard rescued one boat and returned the travellers to
Turkey. They told us that their engine had been stolen as well. In one
case a group of travellers stranded on the Greek island of Samos and in
two cases rescue cannot be confirmed because the Alarm Phone could not
re-establish contact to the travellers (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/305).
On Saturday the 10th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone dealt with a total
of 9 boats in distress in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek island of
Lesvos, Agathonisi, Kos and Samos. In 5 cases the Greek coastguard
rescued the travellers and in one case the Turkish coastguard conducted
a large rescue operation. One boat reached Greece on its own but in two
cases rescue cannot be confirmed by the Alarm Phone, because we lost
contact with the travellers (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/306).
On Sunday the 11th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone dealt with a total
of 11 emergency situations in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek island of
Farmakonisi, Agathonisi, Lesvos and Samos. In 5 cases the travellers
were finally rescued by the Greek coastguard or arrived at Greek islands
on their own. The Turkish coastguard rescued 3 boats and one returned to
the Turkish coast independently. In two cases we could not confirm the
rescue of the boats, as we were not able to re-establish contact to them
(see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/311).
On Monday the 12th of October 2015, the Alarm Phone was alerted to two
distress cases in the Aegean Sea, close to the Greek islands of Kos and
Chios. While the boat near Kos was rescued by the Greek coastguard, it
was the Turkish coastguard who conducted a rescue operation with respect
to the boat near Chios. More than 150 travellers on board were returned
to Turkey (see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/301).
On Tuesday the 13th of October 2015, the Alarm Phone was alerted to
nine distress cases in the Aegean Sea, close to the Greek islands of
Samos, Lesvos and Chios. Two of the boats had been attacked near Chios
by masked men, who broke the engine and left them behind without fuel, a
third group had stranded on a small Turkish island and reported as well
to have been attacked the night before. As we learned later on, also
this attack happened close to the island of Chios, thus in close
proximity to the other attacks (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/302).
On Wednesday the 14th of October 2015, the Alarm Phone was alerted to
eight distress cases in the Aegean Sea, close to the Greek islands of
Lesvos, Farmakonisi and Chios. In all eight cases the travellers
eventually arrived in Greece, either on their own or by the help of the
Greek coastguard (see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/303).
On Thursday the 15th of October 2015, the Alarm Phone was alerted to
ten distress cases in the Aegean Sea, close to the Greek islands of
Kastellorizo, Agathonisi, Levitha, Chios and Samos (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/307).
On Friday the 16th of October 2015, the Alarm Phone was alerted to two
distress cases in the Aegean Sea, near Lesvos and Agathonisi. In one
case the travellers reported to us that they had been attacked and that
their engine had been taken away (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/304).
On Saturday the 17th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone was alerted 7
cases of boats in distress in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek islands of
Lesvos, Chios and Kastellerizon. Beyond that, one group had stranded on
the Greek island of Farmakonisi and was evacuated by Greek authorities.
Two boats were able to re-start their engine and to move on
independently, while two boats were rescued by the Greek coastguard. In
three cases the Turkish coastguard conducted rescue operations and
returned the travellers to Turkey (see:
http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/309).
On Sunday the 18th of Ocotber 2015 the Alarm Phone dealt with a total
of 10 emergency situations in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek islands of
Farmakonisi, Agathonisi, Glaros, Chios and Lesvos. The Greek coastguard
rescued 4 boats in distress north of Lesvos and 3 east of Chios. In one
case close to Farmakonisi rescue was confirmed to us, but it remained
unclear by whom. Beyond that, two groups of travellers had stranded on
the islands of Agathonisi and Glaros, but were saved afterwards (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/310).
[i]
https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/10/22/greece-attacks-boats-risk-migrant-lives
[ii]
https://beatingborders.wordpress.com/2015/10/19/destruction-in-boukhalef/
[iii]
http://canariasnoticias.es/canarias/hernandez-bento-cree-sorprendente-la-llegada-de-2-mujeres-sirias-en-patera-canarias-si-se
[iv]
http://bulgaria.bordermonitoring.eu/2015/10/16/no-tears-for-killed-afghani-migrant/
[v]
http://missingmigrants.iom.int/en/weekend-greece-arrivals-exceed-peak-summer-day-totals
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» World Europe News Update Alarm Phone Bi-Weekly Report 5th - 18th October 2015