22/03: Push-back at the land border Turkey/Greece

23.03.2018 / 10:27 / Land border Greece / Turkey

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 22nd of March 2018

Case name: 2018_21_03-AEG352
Situation: Push-back of 8 travellers at the land border Turkey/ Greece
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Evros River

Summary of the Case:

On Thursday, 22nd of March, at 5:30am CET, we received information via a contact person about a push-back at the land border between Greece and Turkey by the Greek Police. The 8 travellers concerned had been stuck on a small island on Evros river since the night before and weren’t able to move back or forth. The contact person sent us their GPS position and stated that the group had called various international emergency numbers but had not received any assistance. At 5:40am we informed the UNHCR offices in Greece and Turkey about the push-back and asked for immediate assistance of the travellers. Afterwards we tried to gather more information. At 8:45am we received the phone number of the travellers. We reached them at 09:10am and they reported that they had been violently forced into Turkish territory by Greek Police that also took away most of their phones. They urgently asked for assistance and medical care for some of the group. They had been stuck at the island for many hours. We asked them to sent us a list of their names and birth dates which we received at 9:20am. At 9:42am we called the group again. We passed information on all emergency numbers that they could try to call themselves while we would try to contact local authorities also from our side. At 10:15am we sent an E-Mail to UNHCR Greece and Turkey including all additional information and requesting assistance. At 10:15am we received an audio message from the group saying the weather conditions would deteriorate further and asking for immediate help. At 10:22 we sent them another emergency number to call, but they stated they had done so before but most emergency numbers would not work.
At 10:23am we tried to reach various authorities in Soufli, a Greek town nearby. At 10:31am we reached Soufli Police, but the officer stated that the people would be on Turkish territory and hence their case wouldn’t be the responsibility of the Greek Police. At 10:38am CET we called UNHCR Greece but couldn’t reach anyone. At 10:45am we asked the group for a second phone number to make sure we wouldn’t lose connection if the battery of the first phone died. At 10:50am we also tried to reach UNHCR Turkey via phone but couldn’t establish a connection.
At 10:58am we called the Head Office of the gendarmerie of the nearest biggest town in Turkey, Meriç. The responding officer took all information and promised to send assistance to the people.
At 11:12am we also called the Police Station in another nearby Turkish town, Edirne. We couldn’t reach anyone. At 11:14am we messaged to the travellers that the Meriç police promised to send assistance. The messages were not delivered anymore and when we tried to call their phone we couldn’t establish a connection.
At 11:18am we tried to alert the police in the town of Uzunköprü, but the officer hang up immediately. We as well continued to try to call UNHCR Turkey and Greece but still both agencies remained unreachable.
At 11:57am we called the Police in Meriç again that stated they had sent a team. We contacted a Turkish translator that called again to avoid misunderstandings. He confirmed that the police had sent assistance to the people.
At 1:25pm we called Meriç Police again that stated the rescue team had not found the group at the given position and they hadn’t been able to reach the group via phone, so they had returned.
Eventually we reached out to local contacts to inform them about the case and ask for assistance.
We still couldn’t reach the travellers any more.
At 2:25pm we called Meriç Police again to ask them to search again, but the officer responding would not transfer us to an English speaking person and didn’t understand us.
At 2:45pm our local contacts informed us that they had called Meriç Police and Edirne Provincial Directorate for Emergency and Disasters (AFAD) and both authorities had stated that they did sent teams to assist the travellers but the operation was very difficult due to weather conditions and flooding in the area. At 3:06pm the officer of AFAD informed us that they had provided all information to Greek authorities since the people would be closer to the Greek side of the river and their team had difficulties to access the travellers.
At 3:53pm the travellers called us. They informed us that they had decided not to wait for assistance any longer and so they had swum across the river to Turkey. All had arrived safely.
Credibility: UP DOWN 0
Layers »
  • Border police patrols
     
    While the exact location of patrols is of course constantly changing, this line indicates the approximate boundary routinely patrolled by border guards’ naval assets. In the open sea, it usually correspond to the outer extent of the contiguous zone, the area in which “State may exercise the control necessary to prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws” (UNCLOS, art. 33). Data source: interviews with border police officials.
  • Coastal radars
     
    Approximate radar beam range covered by coastal radars operating in the frame of national marine traffic monitoring systems. The actual beam depends from several different parameters (including the type of object to be detected). Data source: Finmeccanica.
  • Exclusive Economic Zone
     
    Maritime area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea in which the coastal state exercises sovereign rights for the purposes of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living, the seabed and its subsoil and the superjacent waters. Its breadth is 200 nautical miles from the straight baselines from which the territorial sea is measured (UNCLOS, Arts. 55, 56 and 57). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans
  • Frontex operations
     
    Frontex has, in the past few years, carried out several sea operations at the maritime borders of the EU. The blue shapes indicate the approximate extend of these operations. Data source: Migreurop Altas.
  • Mobile phone coverage
     
    Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network coverage. Data source: Collins Mobile Coverage.
  • Oil and gas platforms
     
    Oil and gas platforms in the Mediterranean. Data source:
  • Search and Rescue Zone
     
    An area of defined dimensions within which a given state is has the responsibility to co-ordinate Search and Rescue operations, i.e. the search for, and provision of aid to, persons, ships or other craft which are, or are feared to be, in distress or imminent danger. Data source: IMO availability of search and rescue (SAR) services - SAR.8/Circ.3, 17 June 2011.
  • Territorial Waters
     
    A belt of sea (usually extending up to 12 nautical miles) upon which the sovereignty of a coastal State extends (UNCLOS, Art. 2). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans

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