Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 7th of November 2019

Case name: 2019_07_11-AEG614
Situation: 4 cases in Aegean Region : a group of 17 people got lost near E85, 7 people stranded on Simi island and were rescued, 9 people were stranded on Kastellorizo island and were rescued, 35 people got in distress in Turkish waters and were rescued by Turkish coastguards
Status of WTM Investigation:
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case:
Short overview :
On 7 November our shiftteams got alerted to four different groups who fled from Turkey to Greece.
In the early morning we got alerted by a big group of 17 people who had crossed the landborder and were on a road near Didimoteicho in Greece. The contact to this group was lost after 06.00h CET and authorities didn’t found the group.
Around 16:00h CET we received an alert to a stranded group of 4 adults and 3 children on Simi island. A few minutes later they had been found already and said they don't need help any more.
At 22:43h CET our shiftteam was alerted to a boat in distress, still in Turkish waters on it's way towards Kos. 35 people, among them 6 women and 2 children were confirmed to be rescued by Turkish coastguard at 00:43h.
At 22:54h CET the fourth alert came from a group of 5 adults and 4 children (among them one pregnant woman) who had stranded on Kastellorizo. On 13:20h the next day the port police in Kastellorizo confirmed they had found the group.

Case 1 :
In the early morning at 05:38h CET we got alerted by a big group of 17 people who had crossed the landborder and were on a road near Didimoteicho in Greece. They stated to have 3 babys with them and run out of food and water and asked us to call the police. We received their GPS position half an hour later and adviced them to call 112 by themselves and ask for asylum. We told them to gather all names and nationalities and to inform UNHCR around 08:00 CET. At 7:25h we informed the police (and UNHCR and various NGOs in "cc") about this group and their wish to seek asylum to avoid a push-back of this group. At 11:34h we were informed by Migration Center of Orestiada that all available ressources have been set up for the search operation. The contact to the group was meanwhile lost and also the next day the Migration Center only stated that the search is ongoing.
Case 2:
Around 16:00h CET we received an alert to a stranded group of 4 adults and 3 children on Simi island. A few minutes later they had been found already and said they don't need help any more.
Case 3:
At 22:43h CET we gained knowledge about a boat in distress. Some minutes later we talked to the travellers, who were still in turkish waters on their way towards Kos. The 35 people, among them 6 women and 2 children, asked for immediate rescue so we called and emailed to the Turkish coastguard some minutes later. We lost contact to the travellers and called the authorities one hour later to ask for news. At 23:53h the Turkish coastguard stated that the group is rescued at that moment and at 00:43h the next day they confirmed again that 35 people in distress had been rescued.
Case 4:
At 22:54h the fourth alert came from a group of 5 adults and 4 children (among them one pregnant woman) who had stranded on Kastellorizo. At 00:02h on 8 November we forwarded the GPS position and the telephone number of the travellers to the port police of Kastellorizo. When talking to the group at 00:26h we learned that a women among them is 8 months pregnant and that they have no food and water. We adviced them to light a fire. At around 01:00h we spoke to the port police who stated that it’s impossible to find the group in the night. We should tell them to go in the day light to the main road. We communicated this back to the travellers. In the morning at around 06:30h we received another GPS position near the road. At 07:12h we learned that the army had found the first three travellers. Finally at 13:20h the port police in Kastellorizo confirmed they had found the 6 other travellers.