Symi island Greece
Watch The Med Alarm Phone Report – 21st-23rd of October 2014
Case name: 2014_10_21-Symi
Situation: Arrival of Refugees on the Greek island Symi – Danger of Push-Back
Status of WTM Investigation: Ongoing (Last update: 23rd of October 2014)
Time and Place of Incident: 21st-23rd of October 2014, Aegean Sea and Symi
Risks, Rights & Safety at Sea – EN
This information leaflet is for people who are considering to cross the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey.
The undocumented crossing constitutes an offence both in Greece and Turkey and is above all very dangerous. This document aims neither to deter nor to encourage people to attempt the crossing but seeks to provide objective information about risks, rights and vital safety measures to take at sea.
We wish that the information contained in this document can save your life but you should know it will not make the crossing safer. For twenty years, the EU has been denying visas for most applicants. At the same time wars, conflicts and poverty are forcing out of their countries many people who wish to seek protection in Europe.
Despite the lack of legal ways to reach European territory and despite life-threatening dangers, many of you decide to emigrate anyway and cross the sea-border.
mira online
Uma equipa da Polícia Marítima portuguesa em missão nas ilhas do Leste da Grécia intercetou, na madrugada de sábado, 19 imigrantes, no âmbito de uma operação da agência europeia FRONTEX, indica um comunicado da Marinha.Entre os imigrantes, que se faziam deslocar numa embarcação de 12 metros, dois são suspeitos de pertencerem a uma rede de imigração ilegal, de acordo com a nota publicada no portal da Marinha.A nacionalidade dos envolvidos está ainda a ser apurada. Contudo, segundo a Marinha, tudo indica que serão, na sua maioria, sírios.
Über die Hälfte der syrischen Bevölkerung befindet sich auf der Flucht. An den See- und Landgrenzen von Griechenland spitzt sich die Situation zu. Syrische Flüchtlinge berichten, dass sie von deutschen Polizisten bei der illegalen Rückschiebung von der griechischen auf die türkische Seite misshandelt wurden. Frontex?! Zugleich passiert etwas Unerhörtes in Kreta: „Gestern abend hat es ein historisches Ereignis in der Geschichte der Menschenrechte gegeben. Eines solcher Ereignisse, an die man sich auch später erinnern wird, wie das Handeln von Rosa Parks, die amerikanische Schwarze, die sich weigerte, den Apartheidsvorgaben in den öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln in Alabama Folge zu leisten […] Eine Gruppe von 700 [syrischen] Flüchtlingen, die gerade noch ihr Leben auf einem alten treibenden Frachter aufs Spiel gesetzt sahen – eine Gruppe mit ganzen Familien mit Kindern, auch mit Babys – hat, als sie einen sicheren Hafen in Griechenland (in Kreta) erreicht haben, sich geweigert an Land zu gehen.
They are looking for 4 missing people and have saved 16 say the greek media
One of the missing is a 2 year old little girl. In the artikel one of the survivors said that the facilitator who had forced them by gun to embark the small boat, forbid them later to put on a rescue light and call on the fone for help when the boat was full of water …
We are trying to get more information by getting in contact with the survivors.
The boat was a small fiber glass boat (usually these boats are for 4-5 people max) that was not in good conditon Some of the survivors claimed that they didnt want to get in the boat but they were forced to do so by the smaglers. Very soon while they were still in Turkish sea waters the engine of the boat stopped and water started to come in. They tried to take the water out (probably they tried to call for help) but in one point the boat captisized and people fell in the sea.
REUTERS /Guardia Costiera
Mehr als 700 Flüchtlinge vor der italienischen Küste, knapp 300 vor der Küste Nordzyperns: Die vergangenen Stunden zeigen, wie bedeutend die Seenotrettung im Mittelmeer ist. Gerade dort will die europäische Politik aber sparen.
Rom/ Nikosia – Die Küstenwache hat vor Nordzypern rund 300 Menschen geborgen, auf dem in Seenot geratenen Schiff drängten sich viele Frauen und Kinder. Die mutmaßlich aus Syrien stammenden Migranten seien am Sonntag in eine Sporthalle der Küstenstadt Girne gebracht und medizinisch untersucht worden, meldete die Nachrichtenagentur Anadolu.
One of the survivors told AA each migrant paid about $6,500 to human smugglers to escape the war in Syria in the hopes to reach Europe
GIRNE, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Turkish-Cypriot coast guards rescued Sunday hundreds of migrants who got stranded on a vessel that broke down near the Northern Cyprus‘ coast, an official statement said.
The 50-meter-long vessel, Haj Zaher, carried an estimated 300 migrants, including around 40 women, one of whom was said to be pregnant and 35 children.
The vessel was adorned with a Tanzanian flag and broke down 4.5 miles away from the port city of Girne in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
GENEVA, November 11 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency on Tuesday warned that a US$58.45 million funding shortfall, coupled with this year’s sharp recent growth in internal displacement, could leave up to 1 million Syrians and Iraqis without proper help as winter approaches.
„The shortfall affects our winter preparedness programmes, although we have already invested US$154 million on winter aid for Syrian and Iraqi refugees and internally displaced, and means that UNHCR is having to make some very tough choices over who to prioritize,“ chief spokesperson Melissa Fleming said in Geneva.
„Factors we are considering include the elevation of refugee settlements, the composition of the family unit (e.g. number of children and female-headed households), family health concerns, new arrivals, available family resources, shelter conditions and other considerations. For those we’re unable to prioritize, the conditions could nonetheless be very tough,“ she added.
Guest post by Theodore Baird, postdoctoral researcher at VU University Amsterdam in the Migration Law Section of the Faculty of Law. He lived and worked in the Black Sea region for over four years before moving to Northern Europe. He continues to work on issues of migration in the East Mediterranean and the Black Sea region. In this blog post, Theodore reviews the recent deaths of migrants in the Black Sea, placing the event in historical and geopolitical context. He demonstrates that new migration routes are opening in the Black Sea, embedded in a rich history of migration and geopolitical struggle.
Fears increase that heightened security elsewhere has created new migration routes, leading to Monday’s fatal Istanbul boat tragedy.
By Furkan Naci Top
Monday’s tragic boat accident near Istanbul – where more than 20 suspected illegal immigrants died – could be the first in other such incidents along the Black Sea, a migration expert has warned.
„We can expect a further increase in migrant traffic on this route since security measures have been tightened along other channels,“ said Ahmet Icduygu, the head of the Migration Research Center at Koc University, Istanbul.
