On the night of 13th to 14th of June 2023, the
overcrowded fishing vessel “Adriana” carrying approximately 750
refugees, capsized 47 nautical miles southwest of Pylos, Greece, in the
Greek Search and Rescue (SAR) zone. The boat left Tobruk, Libyaon
June 9, 2023 heading to Italy. On June 13, public information available
suggests that they had lost navigation capacities, were in distress and
in clear need of rescue.
The Hellenic Coast Guard,
instead of launching immediately a Search and Rescue operation, asked
from nearby merchant vessels to provide supplies, so as to enable the
boat to continue its deadly trip towards Italy. The events surrounding
this incident are riddled with contradictions and marked by extreme
delays in taking proper action. More than 15 hours passed from the
moment its condition was made public until the shipwreck, allowing ample
time for potential intervention.
It’s important to note that the weather conditions were ideal and calm in the last day before the shipwreck.
RSA
gathered publicly available sources up to this day (July 27, 2023), to
present an overview of the tragic incident with a detailed timeline and
other crucial data linked to it.
Sie war Profi-Schwimmerin, Geflüchtete und wurde dafür gefeiert, dass sie 18 Menschen vor dem Ertrinken rettete. Doch dann wurde die Syrerin Sara Mardini in Griechenland verhaftet. Weil sie Geflüchtete auf Lesbos vor dem Ertrinken rettete, drohen ihr nun 25 Jahre Haft. Während ihre Schwester bei den Olympischen Spielen schwimmt, wartet Sara auf ihren Prozess.
seebrueckeoffiziell(EN
in comments) In einer großen Recherche zeigen Lighthouse Reports, der
Spiegel und viele weitere Journalist*innen, dass die griechischen
Behörden alles getan haben, um ihre Rolle beim Schiffbruch vor Pylos zu
verschleiern. Die Berichte der Überlebenden deuten darauf hin, dass die
griechische Küstenwache zumindest schwere Fehler begangen hat. Sechzehn
Überlebende sagen, dass die griechische Küstenwache das Kentern des
Fischerbootes verursacht habe, während sieben davon überzeugt sind, dass
die griechischen Rettungsversuche bestenfalls zögerlich waren - was
bedeuten würde, dass sie den Tod von Hunderten von Menschen in Kauf
genommen haben. Im Gegensatz dazu behaupten Pressesprechende der
griechischen Küstenwache, dass auf dem Boot Panik ausgebrochen sei,
wodurch das Boot gekentert wäre.
Doch wollen griechische Behörden
den Vorfall überhaupt aufklären? Die Erfahrungen der letzten Jahre
lassen nur Zweifel an der Bereitschaft der griechischen Behörden, die
Katastrophe gründlich zu untersuchen, zu. Geleakte Untersuchungsberichte
werfen zudem die Frage auf, ob griechische Beamte möglicherweise
Zeugenaussagen zu ihren Gunsten verändert haben. So hat beispielsweise
in einem Fall offenbar ein Mitglied der Küstenwache als Dolmetscher
fungiert.
Spannend ist auch: Die Vorwürfe, dass die griechische
Küstenwache ein Boot abschleppte und damit zum Kentern brachte, gab es
2014 schon mal. Erst letztes Jahr stellte der Europäische Gerichtshof
für Menschenrechte in einem Urteil fest, dass die Küstenwache damals ein
Boot fliehender Menschen so lange abschleppte, bis es kenterte. Drei
Frauen und acht Kinder starben bei diesem Vorfall. Auch damals
behauptete die Küstenwache, dass an Bord des Bootes Panik ausgebrochen
und so das Boot zum Kentern gebracht worden sei. Es ist genau die
gleiche Geschichte, die im Fall vom Schiffbruch vor Pylos erzählt wird.
Wir
fordern eine unabhängige Untersuchung der Vorwürfe! Menschen werden
weiter an den europäischen Grenzen getötet, wenn die europäische
Abschottungspolitik nicht endlich beendet wird! Wir fordern sichere
Fluchtwege, ein Ende der Kriminalisierung von Flucht und Seenotrettung
und Bewegungsfreiheit für alle Menschen!
On 14 June 2023, a fishing boat smuggling migrants sank in international waters in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Pylos, Messenia, Greece. The boat, which left Tobruk, Libya, on 10 June, carried an estimated 400 to 750 migrants.[6][7] The search and rescue effort by Greek authorities rescued 104 survivors including Egyptians, Syrians, Pakistanis, Afghans, and Palestinians,[1] and recovered 82 bodies, with hundreds more missing and presumed dead.
Background
Libya's ongoing crisis,
alongside instability in neighboring countries, has allowed a large
people-smuggling business to develop, making Libya a hub for moving
migrants and refugees across the Mediterranean into Europe.[8] The 2022–2023 Pakistani economic crisis hampered Pakistan's ability to import essential food products, and forced Pakistani people to seek opportunities abroad.[9]
Such maritime smuggling routes into Europe have seen an
increasing number of fatal incidents: 3,800 people died in 2022 while
traversing migrant and refugee routes from the Middle East and North Africa, of whom 3,789 died on sea-based routes in and around the region.[10] On 26 February 2023, at least 94 people died when a wooden boat from İzmir, Turkey, sank offCutro in Southern Italy in the deadliest Mediterranean maritime incident of 2023 up to that point.[8]
The boat, named the Andriana,[11] had departed from Tobruk, a city in Cyrenaica, Libya, south of the Greek island of Crete, on 10 June 2023.[11] The vessel carried an excessive number of people, well above its capacity.[12] According to Alarm Phone,
a European rescue-support charity who claimed to have received a
distress call from the vessel, up to 750 people were aboard, though it
was not clear if that was the same boat that sank.[8][13] The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that around 400 were aboard. Ioannis Zafiropoulos, the deputy mayor of the Greek port city of Kalamata, stated that there were over 500.[14] The ship was a fishing boat,[15] and was estimated to be around 20 to 30 metres (66 to 98 ft) long.[16] The Andriana was destined for Italy.[17]
On 13 June, the Italian coast guard alerted Greek authorities and the European Union (EU) border protection agency, Frontex, of an oncoming vessel in distress.[8][13] In particular, the Italians informed the Greeks of the peculiar movements of the vessel.[18] The Greek coast guard said that Frontex aircraft and two merchant ships
detected the vessel approaching north at high speeds, prompting the
dispatch of more aircraft and vessels. Offers for aid were made to the
ship but were refused according to the Greek coast guard.[19]
In the afternoon, one of the merchant ships approached the Andriana
and offered it assistance; the passengers refused it. Another merchant
ship later did the same and received the same response. A Greek coast
guard patrol approached the deck of the vessel in the evening, where
they confirmed the presence of a large number of migrants.[8]
The migrants again refused any aid, stating that they wished to
continue to Italy. In all three instances, the migrants stated that they
wanted food and water, which the Greek patrol ship and a Maltese-flagged merchant ship provided.[13] The Greek patrol later accompanied the vessel.[8]
Survivors of the shipwreck have stated that a Greek Coast Guard vessel
caused the fishing boat to capsize by attempting to tow it.[20][21]
At around 1:40 a.m. (EEST) on 14 June, the Greek Coast Guard learned that the Andriana's engine had broken down.[8]
After receiving a plea for aid, Coast Guard officers then approached
the ship. They stated that they then "saw the boat take a right turn,
then a sharp left, and then another right so big that it caused the
vessel to capsize." Around 10 to 15 minutes later, the Andriana sank, sending its passengers into the waves of the Ionian Sea.[18] The ship sank around 50 miles (80 km) off the coast of Pylos, Messenia, in the Peloponnese,[12] in an area around 13,000 to 17,000 feet (4,000 to 5,200 m) deep.[17][18] The Greek coast guard reported that no one on board was wearing a life jacket.[12]
According to investigations done by the BBC
and News 24/7, contradicting the Greek coast guard's account of the
incident, the boat had not moved for at least seven hours before
sinking.[22][23]
Search and rescue
Immediately following the sinking, the Greek Coast Guard and the military initiated a massive search and rescue operation.[18] The operation was complicated by strong winds in the area.[12] Survivors were transferred to Kalamata.[19] After rescuing 104 survivors, the Greek authorities stated that they expected to find no more, leaving hundreds still missing.[1][12] The Mayan Queen IV,
a luxury superyacht, was notified by the coast guard to transport 100
of the 104 rescued survivors, as well as recovered bodies, to Kalamata.[22][24] The survivors, the majority of whom are men,[15] reported that the smugglers kept the women and children locked in the hold.[15] Based on survivor accounts, it is believed that up to 100 children were being held at the time of the sinking.[4]
According to leaked testimonies told by survivors, Pakistanis were
allegedly forced below deck, with other nationalities allowed on the top
deck, where they had a far greater chance of surviving a capsize.[25]
Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency
has stated that 12 of the survivors are Pakistani, and that 209 are
amongst those still missing (181 from Pakistan and 28 from
Pakistan-administered Kashmir).[5] Earlier reports claimed that there were 298 Pakistanis missing, of which 135 were from Kashmir.[26][27]
Victims
At least 82 passengers of the Andriana have been confirmed dead, making it the deadliest shipwreck of 2023 in the Mediterranean sea.[12] Greek police said they were working on the assumption that as many as 500 people were missing.[4]
Aftermath
Lanterns lit in memory of the victims during the protest in Athens
The Greek Coast Guard released aerial pictures showing the boat's overladen upper and lower decks hours before it sank.[28]
The Coast Guard claimed in official statements that the boat and its
passengers had refused assistance because its destination was Italy, and
so its boats had hung back.[4][28]
Alarm Phone, a support network for rescue operations, was contacted by
people onboard late on Tuesday. The passengers were saying that the
captain had abandoned the ship.[28] No one onboard is thought to have been wearing a life jacket.[4]
Under the previous conservative government, Greek authorities took a hard stance on migration, raising border controls,[28] and often turning away boats laden with migrants and refugees.[29] Many left-wing organizations, trade unions, anti-racist collectives and parties, including the Communist Party of Greece, called for protests on 15 June in solidarity with the refugees and against pushbacks and border fences intended to control migration.[30]
That evening, thousands of protesters converged in Athens and
Thessaloniki to demonstrate against EU migration policies. Some
protestors in Athens threw petrol bombs at police and were teargassed.[31] Protesters in Kalamata demonstrated near the migrant facilities, with one banner reading: "Crocodile tears! No to the EU's pact on migration".[31]
Judicial proceedings
By
the evening of 16 June, the Greek authorities had arrested nine
suspects believed to have been responsible for the people-smuggling
operation. The men, all of Egyptian descent, are due to appear before a
local magistrate, with the public prosecutor likely to press charges,
including mass murder.[4] Additionally, Pakistani authorities arrested 10 suspected traffickers.[32] On 19 June 2023, nine Egyptian men aged between 20 and 40, accused of human smuggling and operating the boat, appeared in a Greek court in Kalamata and pleaded not guilty.[33][34]
Response
Opposition leader Alexis Tsipras
said he had visited Kalamata port and spoken with survivors who said
they had "called for help". He asked: "What sort of protocol does not
call for the rescue... of an overloaded boat about to sink?" Tsipras
said European migration policy "turns the Mediterranean, our seas, into
watery graves".[4] The caretaker administration in Athens announced three days of national mourning,[28] and Greek president Katerina Sakellaropoulou visited some of the survivors and conveyed her condolences.[19]
Due to the large death toll of Pakistanis, Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif declared a day of mourning on 19 June 2023.[26] The Pakistani newspaper Dawn
editorialized that "racist laws, anti-migration policies", which aim to
prevent migrants from entering safely and legally, are to blame for the
deaths of thousands of refugees.[35]
"Οργή και θλίψη, ενώ σβήνουν οι ελπίδες για άλλους επιζώντες" [Rage and grief, while hope fades for other survivors]. Efimerida ton Syntakton (in Greek). 15 June 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023. Στο
μεταξύ οι έρευνες που συνεχίστηκαν αδιάκοπα όλο το προηγούμενο 24ωρο
ήταν άκαρπες και ο επίσημος απολογισμός παραμένει 78 νεκροί και 104
διασωθέντες. [In the meantime, the searches that continued
uninterrupted throughout the previous 24 hours were fruitless and the
official tally remains 78 dead and 104 rescued.]
Vor der Küste von #Pylos ist ein #Schiff mit
möglicherweise über 700 Geflüchteten an Bord gesunken. Rund hundert Menschen
konnten gerettet werden, über 100 Tote sind bis jetzt bestätigt. Dass diese
Zahl noch dramatisch steigen wird, ist jedem klar, der die Fotos des
hoffnungslos überfüllten Fischerboots gesehen hat. Fotos? Ja, es gibt Bilder
von dem Schiff bei der Überfahrt. Die griechische #Küstenwache und #Frontex
wurden schon viele Stunden vorher über das Schiff in Not informiert, sie waren
vor Ort, machten Aufnahmen – sozusagen eine »orchestrierte #Sterbebegleitung«.
Jetzt sind Politiker*innen in #Griechenland und ganz Europa wieder betroffen,
so wie sie es auch beim Unglück vor #Crotone in Italien im Februar waren,
als mindestens 94 Menschen ertranken. Ihr Tod ist aber die direkte Folge der
europäischen Abschottungspolitik. Das Schiff, das nun vor Griechenland
gekentert ist, war auf dem Weg von #Tobruk / #Libyen nach Italien. Viele
Schutzsuchende haben große Angst vor Pull-Backs nach Libyen, aber auch vor der
menschenunwürdigen Situation in Griechenland. Die massenhaften illegalen #Pushbacks und
Lager unter haftähnlichen Bedingungen zwingen sie dazu, längere und gefährlichere
Routen auf sich zu nehmen.
Mit dem deutschen Asylkompromiß von 1993 fing es an und jetzt wird alles noch
viel schlimmer werden. Auch die neuen EU-Asylpläne, die die griechische
Blaupause auf ganz Europa übertragen sollen, werden die Situation natürlich
nicht verbessern. Sie werden nicht dafür sorgen, dass Menschen nicht mehr
fliehen – sondern dass ihre Fluchtwege noch gefährlicher werden, es noch mehr
Tote gibt. Die Krokodilstränen sollten sich die verantwortlichen
Politiker*innen dann sparen. Und eines muss noch gesagt werden wo sollen die
Menschen hin fliehen. Die Zahl der mörderischen Systeme hat zugenommen – siehe #Erdogan
#Türkei bedroht #Armenier, #Kurden und selbst Jerusalem und Israel will er
erobern 562.
Jahrestag der Eroberung Konstantinopels: Flammende Rede: Erdogan schwärmt von
Eroberung Jerusalems - FOCUS online| Der brutale Massenmörder #Assad in #Syrien, #UnstaatPutin - die islamische
Despotie #Iran. Die Banditenherrschaft
der #Tailban in #Afghanistan und deren sexistischere #Islamismus, die
Unterdrückung der Uiguren und der Menschen in Tibet durch die VRChina – die Verfolgung
der Rohingyas in Birma. Der despotische #König in #Thailand verfolgt jeden der
ihn nicht aufrichtig verehrt usw. #PylosShipwreck#WennMenschenrechteVerschwinden
#GegenjedenTod @seistark.ev rk.evTA @#WeAreAllUkrainians
Doch wie ist #Europa
selbst, neben der Markt-Dominanz gegenüber ärmere Länder, übernehmen die extremen Rechtspopulisten die Macht oder
regieren wie in Deutschland schon längst indirekt mit zum Schaden für die Freiheit
des #Anderen. So bleiben immer Menschen allein zurück. Zur Erinnerung; die westliche Hemisphäre kennt Menschenrechte und lebt die Demokratie [noch] - dass wissen die #Menschen
der #Flucht und #Wanderung. Deshalb #stopfortresseurope #fuckfrontex#JederMenschwillleben #keinmenschistegal #Frontextistzuhart #keinmenschistillegal
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