Brussels, 24/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 24 January, Greece was again the focus of concern over the way it treats migrants and asylum seekers.
During the night of Sunday 19 to Monday 20 January, a boat carrying migrants capsized close to the island of Farmakonisi - a few kilometres off the coast of Turkey - which left twelve people unaccounted for (nine children and three women). Sixteen of the migrants received emergency rescue. The conditions in which this operation took place have again raised suspicions among NGOs of refoulement of migrants - an illegal practice. The migrants in the capsized boat were mostly Afghans and Syrians.
According to the NGO Pro Asyl, the Greek authorities reportedly tried to push these migrants back on Monday morning rather than really rescue them. This is forbidden under international law. According to what the migrants told Pro Asyl, it is when the Greek coastguards towed the boat towards the Turkish coast that the tragedy really occurred - with the boat capsizing.
In the view of the Greek authorities, it is the bad weather that complicated the rescue attempt and the return to Farmakonisi - with all the migrants rushing to one side of the boat and creating an imbalance.
On Tuesday, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) called on the Greek authorities to shed light on what happened. In addition, NGOs, particularly the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), have called for an independent investigation into the allegations.
However, during an informal meeting of European home affairs ministers in Athens on Friday 24 January, Greece's Minister for Shipping, Maritime Affairs and the Aegean Sea Militiadis Varvitsiotis said that the investigation had been entrusted to the prosecutor for the region. “And an independent authority other than that of the Greek justice system is not planned for this type of investigation”, he added. “But we can provide information to any authority that asks us for it”, he said. Varvitsiotis also said that he was due to meet some members of the Greek parliament on Saturday in order to discuss the circumstances of this capsized boat with them.
In Varvitsiotis' opinion, the situation is clear. “We're still upset by the loss of human life (…) but in the present case, there was no 'push back'. This can be proved from the place where the boat capsized. It was being towed towards the Greek coast”, he said.
European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström has spoken of her “confidence” in the fact that Greek authorities will shed light on the tragedy. She recalled the European Commission's aid to Greece, which for several years has been in the form of European monitoring in order to improve the asylum system and the way that Greece treats migrants who have been intercepted at its borders. An action plan established in 2010 has enabled the situation to be improved a little but “much remains to be done”, Malmström stated. (In January 2011 the European Court of Human Rights condemned Greece for its degrading treatment of migrants.) Malmström recalled that Greece was committed with the Commission to improving its asylum system and reception of asylum seekers. In addition, the Commission has often visited Greece to inspect its work on this.
During the morning of Friday 24 January, having just having just expressed her regret on Twitter at the loss of life off Farmakonisi, Malmström was criticised by several Greeks on Twitter, who accused her of supporting, through her financing of it, a security policy in Greece that is hardly respectful of migrants. Greece has received just over €250 million of European funding (from border and migration funds) in three years in order to remedy its shortcomings. “Your responsibility is therefore direct and enormous”, a Greek tweeted Malmström.
On 10 January, the Greek government accepted a request (dating back to 5 December) from the Council of Europe and its Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks to investigate other (numerous) allegations of refoulement towards Turkey and even of ignoring the medical needs of some migrants - particularly Syrians. Greece's Minister for Public Order Nikos Dendias then assured Muiznieks in a letter that the police had been asked to investigate the accusations rigorously and that a criminal response would be brought if these actions proved to be true. (SP/transl.fl)