Migrants
trying to sail from Turkey to Greece are increasingly reporting being attacked
by gunmen trying to prevent them from reaching Europe, according to multiple
sources. The reports came as the UN’s refugee agency on Friday said Greece’s
infrastructure was falling “far short” of the needs of the 109,000 migrants who
have arrived in the country this year, fleeing war, poverty and persecution. An
international NGO, which did not wish to be named, has launched an
investigation after several witnesses reported being attacked en route from
Turkey to Greece, with some saying they were robbed and others saying the
motors from their boats were stolen. The NGO said it suspected the involvement
of “mafia gangs”, while also noting that the Greek coastguard has previously
engaged in activities designed to deter migrants from trying to make their way
to Greek shores. “But we have been assured that this has finished,” the NGO
said. Reports of attacks on migrants were particularly common around the Greek
island of Lesbos in the east Aegean Sea, it added. Nawal Soufi, and Italian
activist who has handled numerous distress calls from Syrian refugees at sea,
said she had heard of around 20 boats whose passengers had been attacked in
recent months. “The migrants speak of commandos — some say they (were
confronted by EU border agency) Frontex, others by the Turkish or Greek
coastguard — others by militias or pirates,” Soufi told journalists, adding
that such cases have rocketed in recent months. Mubarak, a 30-year-old Syrian who
set sail from Turkey to Greece in May, said his boat was stopped by what he
believed was a Turkish navy vessel, which fired water jets in a bid to scare
them away. Men then tried to take the boat’s engine, but after more than an
hour’s fighting the migrants managed to make it to Lesbos, said Mubarak, who
has since claimed asylum in Germany. A mobile phone video of the skirmish
appears to show a military boat and silhouettes of the attackers, against the
sound of the boat’s panicking passengers.A Syrian who left Turkey on Tuesday
night told Soufi how a navy boat had approached his vessel and hooded men, who
carried M16 rifles and spoke a language she did not understand, came onboard. They
carried out a heavy-handed search of passengers, tearing their clothes and
underwear to find hidden cash, and throwing the contents of their bags
overboard. The attackers abandoned the passengers after stealing their engine.
The group was rescued by the Turkish coastguard, along with another group who
had suffered a similar attack. Efi Latsoudi of the NGO “Village All Together”,
based in Lesbos, said the attacks may be aimed at dissuading migrants from
making the trip, tactics that have been common in Greece in the past. “Amnesty
International and other human rights groups have repeatedly denounced the poor
treatment of migrants in Greece, who are beaten and intimidated in a bid to
convince them to return to Turkey,” she told AFP. The UN’s refugee agency, the
UNHCR, on Friday urged the European Union to provide “urgent and robust”
support to Greece to help it deal with the crisis.
Saturday 1 August 2015
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