Vedat Yeler
GREECE – 83 refugees, including children, women and patients, were stranded on the Greek border of the Ionian Sea while crossing to Italy. Refugees said that they had been on the road for 4 days and that they were stranded as a result of a malfunction in their boat’s engine at noon yesterday. Refugees, who stated that they had informed the Greek authorities since yesterday, said that there was no attempt to save them and that only two boats belonging to the Greek Coast Guard were circling around them.
The Greek Coast Guard, whom we called for the rescue of refugees whose locations are close to the Greek Zakinthos Island, remained indifferent to the situation and directed us to the Zakinthos Port Authority. Zakinthos Port Authority, on the other hand, stated that they did not find the refugees first, and then said that we should both wait for the morning and call the Greek coast guard officials regarding the issue.
Many people related to this boat contacted the Greek Coast Guard and gave information about the location information of the refugees, their contact numbers, the number of people on the boat and the situation on the boat. In addition, refugees on the boat stated that they called the Greek Coast Guard and 112 and called for emergency help.
However, the refugees who have been stranded for about 24 hours are not rescued by the Greek Coast Guard, and they respond to the calls that ‘could not find such a boat’.
15 CHILDREN, 30 WOMEN AND 2 HEART PATIENTS…
There are 15 children and 30 women in the refugee group of 83 people, who say they want to apply for asylum in Greece. The majority of the group consists of Kurds. Refugees said they had to flee because of the pressure they were experiencing. Refugees, who said they were afraid of being sent back to Turkey and Iran, added that the health condition of two people with heart disease was also bad.
While calling for help in a video released by a refugee, he said: “We are 83 people on the boat right now. As you can see, we all sit on top of each other. There are about 30 women among us. There are 15 children among us. Two of them are sick. There are heart problems among us. We are waiting for the Greek police to take us. No food, no water…”
THEY ARE DRIFT INTO THE ION SEA
Refugees waiting to be rescued spent the night helplessly drifting in the sea with the wind and current. Refugees, who sent their location information again around 09:30 in the morning, noted that there was a coast guard boat watching them from afar. Refugees who changed their position due to the drift also noted that their phones stopped working and they had difficulty in contacting to renew their calls for help.
‘YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING’
Refugees, who stated that they were constantly watched by the coast guard in the interviews we held at regular intervals in the night and morning, but they were not rescued, expressed their latest situation with these words: “We are still in the middle of the sea. The police are walking around, they come and go. The women and children are not well. You must do something. The wind has taken us away. The waves are rising and it will be bad if we stay in the evening.”