The UN’s migration agency and several charities fear that the number of dead will rise as the day progresses. It was on Wednesday morning that there were first reports of a shipwreck off the coast of Greece. 104 people are to be rescued from the sea, 30 of these sent to hospital. All are boat refugees, reports the Greek coast guard. The boat must have been wrecked in one of the places where the Mediterranean is at its deepest. 104 of the migrants on board should be safe, write the Greek coast guard. Photo: STELIOS MISINAS / Reuters – We know right now that at least 400 people were on board, but some sources are talking about 700, 750 passengers, says Flavio Di Giacomo to news. – It is most likely in this case that the overwhelming majority of the migrants are missing. Di Giacomo is the spokesperson for the Mediterranean office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which is part of the United Nations. – We have registered many boats at Cyrenaica in Libya that have 500-600 people on board, so the highest number can also be credible. – What we can say is that what has happened today appears to be one of the most serious shipwrecks in ten years. A spokesperson for the Greek authorities tells broadcaster ERT that they cannot confirm that the boat had as many as 700 passengers. On Wednesday evening, three days of national mourning were declared in Greece. The map shows the area where Alarm Phone reports they received an emergency signal from the night to Wednesday, and the port city of Kalamata, to which many survivors were taken. I think Greece should have intervened yesterday The boat had left Libya and was on its way to Italy when the tragedy happened. According to Greek authorities, the passengers came from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine and Syria. – Since very early on Wednesday, an extensive rescue operation has been underway outside Pylos, they say to AFP. Survivors arrived at the port in Kalamata on Wednesday, after being taken out of the sea. Photo: EUROKINISSI / Reuters The Greek coast guard says they already received reports on Tuesday evening that the boat could be in distress at sea. They claim that the refugees on board refused when they were offered help. – We don’t have any information about whether the migrants want to be rescued or not, says Di Giacomo. – But this was a mistake. When people board the migrant boat, the rescue operation should start immediately. According to maritime law, no migrant boats meet the minimum requirements to sail on the open sea. He believes that if migrant boats continue to be launched for one to two days before they receive help, we will see more such shipwrecks in the future. – We are very worried about what will happen in the future if the situation does not change. At least 30 people have been taken to hospital from the port in Greece. Photo: Thanassis Stavrakis / AP Several shipwrecks with large sailing boats The charity organization Dråpen i haetat says they have seen several large boat shipwrecks in the Mediterranean recently. Before, the migrants on board these, who often came from the Middle East and lands further east, mainly came via Turkey and via the Greek islands. Now more and more people are coming through Libya with the desire to add to Italy, Secretary General Trude Jacobsen tells news. Trude Jacobsen is general secretary of Dråpen i Havet. Photo: Svein Finneide/Tara – It is probably about the fact that if they come over to Italy, the possibilities of getting on to other European countries are greater. – In Greece, they are often tied up in refugee camps for a long time, and a good number also have their asylum applications rejected there. They then end up paperless. The result is “a much longer and actually much more dangerous flight”, she claims. – The challenge is that the boats they use are simply bad, and that there are far too many people on board. – As is usually the case, there are no life jackets and other equipment should things go wrong. So we have seen a development of this. In addition, they have seen a doubling in the number of people trying the “short” route from Turkey to Greece. In recent years, several large boats have been seen trying to cross with migrants on board, says Dråpen i Havet. This picture is from November last year. Photo: STRINGER / Reuters Violations of international law uncovered In 2022, it was revealed by a group of European media houses that the EU’s border agency Frontex financed Greek “pushbacks”, in violation of international law. The EU uses this term to stop asylum seekers and migrants who need help when or before they reach a country’s border. Greek authorities still deny that such a practice exists. The 104 survivors who have been found so far are being helped by the Red Cross. Photo: Thanassis Stavrakis / AP – There is probably no doubt that this is something that is happening, says Jacobsen, and refers to conversations her employees have had with refugees on the island of Lesvos. – Here it is both the Greek coastguard that is blamed for this, but also Frontex, i.e. Europe’s border police, has also demonstrably been involved in this here. When asked by news about the events on Wednesday, Frontex responded as follows: – We are deeply shaken by the tragic events that have unfolded off the Greek coast. The rescue operation is still going on. In May, the New York Times gained access to a video in which the Greek coast guard set a group of asylum seekers, including a 6-month-old baby, out at sea. – A Frontex surveillance plane discovered the boat on Tuesday 13 June at 9.47 local time and immediately informed the competent Greek and Italian authorities. About the incident itself on Tuesday, they ask that questions be directed to the Greek rescue service. Asking Norway to take action Tommy Olsen has worked for seven years closely with the boat refugees in the Aegean Sea. Now he is based in Tromsø, but follows the situation closely with the one-man company Aegean Boat Report. – Norway is in the situation where we pay money to Frontex. So here Norwegian politicians can step in and say that we do not want to finance human rights violations on Europe’s borders. Olsen runs the Aegean Boat Report, which conveys information about human movements in the Aegean Sea. – Normally in a country where human rights are systematically violated, Frontex is taken out of that country. It has happened in other countries in Europe, but it does not happen in Greece. Jacobsen also believes that something must be done about the practices of Frontex and the Greek coast guard, among other things by putting in place agreements on a fairer distribution. – Without such joint agreements, one cannot expect that Europe’s foreign countries, i.e. Italy, Greece, Spain, Malta, can handle this themselves. – Preferably in a way that means they don’t have to set out on these dangerous crossings, which take far too many lives.
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Fishing boat with many migrants on board capsizes off Greece – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
