World Europe News Update Alarm Phone Weekly Report, 28th of September to 4th of October 2015‏

Alarm Phone Weekly Report, 28th of September to 4th of October 2015



The fundamental crisis of the European border regime continues, and we
as the Alarm Phone are able to witness first-hand how thousands succeed
to overcome Europe’s borders day after day, despite their securitisation
and fortification. As a reaction to these unprecedented movements, the
EU seeks to militarise its borders even further and announced on the
28th of September that its second phase of the naval operation ‘Eunavfor
Med’ would be launched on the 7th of October. In this second phase EU
forces go beyond gathering surveillance on ‘smuggling networks’ and
engage actively in boarding, searching, seizing and diverting vessels
‘suspected of being used for human smuggling or trafficking on the high
seas’. As many other human rights groups and freedom of movement
activists throughout and beyond Europe, we denounce this mission in the
strongest possible terms as it will make sea crossings evermore
dangerous and will imprison thousands who want to escape Libya and
Northern Africa. In addition, the EU began negotiations with the Turkish
Prime Minister Erdogan over plans to further outsource EU border control
to its neighbouring countries and secure its eastern borders in the
Aegean region.

The Alarm Phone network calls for the exact opposite: the opening of
legal and safe ways into the territories of the EU, ferries not Frontex!
Anything short of legal possibilities to cross borders will lead to more
suffering and death as this past week has demonstrated once again. The
Greek coastguard found the bodies of two children and two adults off the
island of Kos, and the bodies of a woman and a child near Lesvos.
Following news accounts, about 95 bodies were washed up in Libya over
the weekend, 85 of them near the capital city of Tripoli and 10 near
Sabratha. These atrocities will continue if Europe continues to follow
its politics of deterrence.

In the past seven days we were involved in 51 situations of emergency in
the Aegean Sea, 2 in the Western Mediterranean Sea and 1 distress case
in the Central Med. Please find summaries of our reports and links to
the full reports below.


On Monday the 28th of September, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 7
distress cases in the Aegean Sea. The first situation that reached us
around midnight was already very dramatic with 44 travellers, some of
whom had presumably gone overboard already, in acute distress near the
Greek island of Samos. Our shift team reached out to the Greek
coastguards who noted down the coordinates and confirmed that they had
already sent out a vessel to that position. We were then also alerted by
two other contact persons about the same case. One of them also stated
that people were overboard. At 1.15am, the Greek authorities informed us
that they had just rescued 48 people, close to the coordinates they had
received from us. Through our contact persons we finally received
confirmation of their rescue at 1.26am. We were alerted to the six other
cases throughout the day. They took place near Samos, Chios and Lesvos.
Two vessels made it to Greek islands independently, 3 were rescued by
the Greek coastguards and another one by the Turkish coastguards (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/284).

On Tuesday the 29th of September, at approximately 4.30am, the Alarm
Phone received a direct call from travellers in distress in the Central
Mediterranean Sea. They stated that they were about 125 people,
including 2 women, one of whom was pregnant. They had left Libya and
were on their way to Malta. In English and French and through their
satellite phone they told our shift team that they could not steer the
vessel anymore and had lost orientation. There were too many people on
board, many of whom were sea-sick. Our shift team asked about their GPS
position but was only able to receive incomplete coordinates. At 5am we
called the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Rome
and informed them about the case. Finally, at 5.12am, the travellers
told us their position which we quickly passed on to MRCC Rome. They
confirmed that they would work on the case. At 7.57am, the people on the
boat reached out to us again and this time they were clearly anxious,
with many shouting in the background. They told us that they could see a
blue vessel with white letters on in the distance. At 9.02am, they told
us that they could not reach MRCC Rome and that there were two vessels
now nearby, one of which seemed to move away from them. At 9.40am, the
travellers informed us about a white ship vicinity, possibly an Italian
vessel, and a helicopter hovering above them. We advised them to stay
calm. Afterwards, they could not be reached again. At 11.39am, MRCC Rome
said that that one of their navy vessel had just rescued a boat with 124
people on board. They assumed that they were the people in question
(see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/288).

On Wednesday the 30th, the Alarm Phone was involved in a total of 12
emergency situations near Greek islands. The first case reached us at
1.13am when we received a WhatsApp message from a contact person who
told us about a group of 30 people on a vessel in distress (case 1). The
father of the contact person’s friend was amongst them. With the
provided GPS coordinates we could see that they were in Greek waters,
near the island of Lesvos. The contact person told us that water was
entering the vessel and asked us to alert the Greek coastguards. We also
suggested that the travellers should call the international emergency
number 112 in any case. We reached the Greek coastguards at 1.25am who
were very impatient and told us to ask the travellers to call by
themselves. At 2.44am our contact person informed us that they had
reached Lesvos independently and were safe. Of the other 11 groups in
distress, 8 made it to Greece and three were returned to Turkey. Three
vessels reached Lesvos independently, two were rescued to Lesvos by the
Greek coastguards, one vessel presumably reached Samos on its own and
another one Chios Island, one group stranded on Farmakonisi Island, two
vessels were rescued by the Turkish coastguards and one vessel was
washed back to Turkish shores after its engine had broken down (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/285).

On Thursday the 1st of October, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 5
distress cases in the Aegean Sea. At 3.59am, we received a phone call
from the UK. A woman informed us about an emergency situation near Samos
Island (case 1). The vessel in distress carrying between 40-60 people
was, however, still located in Turkish waters. We were not able to reach
the group and our contact person informed the Turkish coastguards. We
then received conflicting information about the same case from several
informants. It turned out that the vessel was in fact close to Lesvos
Island, not Samos. At 11.40am we were able to reach the vessel and were
informed that the vessel was capsizing. We told them to quickly call 112
but when they tried, they could not get through. We informed the
coastguards who were very uncooperative and would not take our
information. They just said that the travellers should call them
directly. In a phone call with the coastguards at around noon, we were
told to call the authorities in the North of Lesvos, Mithimna, who in
turn confirmed that they had already sent out a rescue vessel. At 1pm,
one of our contact persons confirmed their rescue. RSC Mithimna also
confirmed the rescue of 57 people at 1.22pm.

Another group of travellers had stranded on the small island of
Stroggili and was then rescued/transferred by the Greek coastguards from
the island later on. We were also alerted to a vessel that was
subsequently rescued by the Turkish coastguards as well as to two
emergency situations near and on the island of Farmakonisi. One group
was still on a vessel in distress in Turkish waters and was rescued by
the Turkish coastguards. Two groups had stranded on the Greek island of
Farmakonisi. On the next day we were informed that they had been
transferred to Leros Island and were safe. At the same time we learned
about scandalous conditions on Leros Island, with hundreds of travellers
stuck there and not cared for appropriately. Food and water are lacking
and we also hear about serious ill-treatments of refugee women. The
authorities tried to force them to remove their scarves/hijabs for
‘photographic evidence’ which they refused. Besides these five cases,
our shift teams were also informed about several other boats from
various contact persons who saw posts about distress situations on
Facebook and contacted us. While we appreciate that everyone is trying
to raise awareness about emergency situations, there were several cases
in which we could not get involved, either as the cases had already been
resolved and the posts were outdated or as not sufficient information
was provided (see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/286).

On Thursday the 1st of October, the Alarm Phone received a call from a
person in Morocco at approximately 7pm and was informed about a vessel
that had left Morocco during the night, carrying about 50 persons. He
had lost contact to the travellers and was very worried about their
well-being. We then informed one of our Alarm Phone members in Morocco.
At 8.18pm, the contact person called us again, becoming increasingly
worried. Our member in Morocco contacted the Spanish search and rescue
organisation Salvamento Maritimo who passed on the good news: The boat
had made it to Almeria/Spain. All 58 travellers were safe. He informed
our contact person who was, of course, very relieved (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/289).

On Friday the 2nd of October, the Alarm Phone was alerted to a total of
14 distress cases in one day. Four emergencies occurred near the Greek
island of Samos and we received the confirmation that groups 1, 2 and 4
were rescued by the Greek coastguards while the third group reached the
island independently (cases 1, 2, 3, 4). We were informed about a
distress case between Bodrum/Turkey and Kos/Greece and we informed the
Turkish coastguards (case 5). However, no information about their rescue
could be obtained. We were also involved in five cases that took place
near Lesvos Island (cases 6, 7, 8, 9, 10). Four vessels were rescued by
the Greek coastguards and one vessel made it to the island
independently. Case 11 concerned a vessel in distress near Chios Island
which was rescued by the Greek authorities and cases 12-13 concerned
groups that had stranded on Farmakonisi Island/Greece. Their rescue was
not confirmed but can be assumed. In one case (14), we received only
limited information but learned that the 40 travellers were rescued
(see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/287).

On Saturday the 3rd of October, our shift team was called from someone
in Morocco who informed us about a vessel that had left from
Nador/Morocco the evening before, at about 10pm. There were 28 people on
the boat, including 3 women, one of whom was pregnant. We informed the
Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo about the
situation at 4.17pm. The Spanish authorities told us at 4.47pm that they
had detected a rubber vessel that fit our description and would launch a
rescue operation shortly. We agreed to speak to them again 4 hours later
to confirm the rescue. Afterwards we informed our contact person about
the situation. At 5.33pm we reached the group of travellers directly and
spoke to a woman who was clearly in panic. We told them to stay calm and
wait for the rescue vessel. We spoke to Salvamento again at 7.26pm who
were worried about the case as they had, in fact, not located the vessel
and it had turned dark in the meantime. The contact person called us
repeatedly, expressing how worried he was. He also told us at 7.45pm
that he had even informed the Moroccan Navy which refused to search for
the vessel as they said that it would probably be in Spanish waters
already. At 8pm we received an email from Salvamento in which they told
us that the vessel had been sighted by a rescue aircraft approximately
11 miles off the Moroccan Coast. They would send a vessel to that
location. We then informed our contact person who in turn informed that
travellers. They said that they could see a vessel in vicinity as well
as an airplane above them. Afterwards we were unable to contact the
travellers directly but received confirmation of their rescue through
Salvamento at 10.30pm. We then also informed the contact person about
the good news. During the day, 188 people were rescued by the Spanish
authorities (see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/291).



On Saturday the 3rd of October, the Alarm Phone was involved in 8
emergency situations in the Aegean Sea. At 2.35am we were called by a
contact person who alerted us to a vessel in distress, still in Turkish
waters (case 1). The travellers had run out of fuel and could not move
any further. Our contact person had already informed the Greek
coastguard and when we called the people on the boat they seemed fine
and awaiting rescue by the Turkish coastguard. Our contact person also
told us about a second vessel which was very close to the first one. At
2.50am we called the people on board of the first vessel and they
confirmed that the Turkey authorities were in the process of rescuing
them. 3 other vessels were rescued by the Greek coastguard near Lesvos,
another 2 near Kos and 2 groups of travellers were rescued by Turkish
authorities (see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/290).

On Sunday the 4th of October, the Alarm Phone dealt with 5 distress
cases in the Aegean region. The first emergency case reached us a few
minutes after midnight when an activist collective informed us about a
group of people who had stranded on Glaros Island/Greece (case 1). The
collective had lost contact to them and unfortunately we could not reach
them either. We then heard that a second vessel had also arrived on
Glaros. We informed the Greek coastguards about the two cases at 2am and
they confirmed that they had already sent out a rescue vessel to search
for the people. In the meantime we were informed by someone else about a
third group on the island. Later on we received the confirmation that
the first group had been rescued and we assumed that the other two
groups would also be transferred from the small island. Another group of
travellers was in distress but then succeeded to reach Samos
independently. One vessel was in distress near Lesvos and while we have
no confirmation we expect it to have been rescued by the Greek
coastguards who were rescuing several vessels in the area. One vessel
was rescued by the Turkish coastguard and the Greek coastguard promised
to rescue/transfer a group stranded on Farmakonisi Island (see:
http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/292).