At around 6 a.m. on Tuesday October 26, three children aged 3 to 14 and a woman, all from Africa, were found drowned by the Greek coast guard off the island of Chios, just 18 kilometers from the Turkish seaside town of Çesme. According to the statement from the Greek port police, none of the 27 passengers was wearing a life jacket, while the force 6 winds on the Beaufort scale made the crossing perilous.
“This is the reality of the exploitation of migrants by criminal gangs in the Aegean – unscrupulous traffickers who put lives in danger aboard overloaded canoes unfit for navigation at sea off Chios”, denounced on Twitter the Greek Minister of Migration, Notis Mitarachi, photo in support of the blue boat capsizing under the waves. “The Turkish authorities must do more to prevent the activity of criminal groups that exploit migrants. These crossings should not even be able to take place ”, lambasted the minister.
Αυτή είναι η πραγματικότητα της εκμετάλλευσης μεταναστών απο εγκληματικές συμμορίες στο Αιγαίο. Αδίστακτοι λαθροδια… https://t.co/jPiltbZOVw
In 2020, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recorded more than 100 dead or missing in the Aegean Sea. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis assured, during an interview on 1er October, “Defend land and sea borders with the greatest respect for human rights, always placing the protection of people at sea as a top priority”. “No one drowned in the Aegean this year”, he added. But, according to the UNHCR, three shipwrecks took place between January and March, killing six people, including one in Greek territorial waters off the island of Lesbos.
The Greek Prime Minister also declared that “The networks of smugglers who profit from human suffering had been wiped out” and “Migratory flows had fallen by 90% compared to 2019”. According to human rights defenders, and after numerous journalistic investigations, this decrease is nevertheless the result of systematic and illegal refoulements of migrants to Turkey. Until now, Athens has always denied using this practice, which is contrary to the Geneva Convention and international law. But Brussels, in particular EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson, and UNHCR are urging the Greek government to set up an independent body to monitor abuses and human rights violations at the borders.
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