Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 21st of July 2018
Case name: 2018_07_21-AEG-406
Situation: 27 people missing at Greek/Turkish landborder > Push-back
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Saturday, July 21, at 19.28 CET, The Alarm Phone received a message from a contact person indicating that 27 people had been missing for 3 days near the Greek/Turkish landborder being left without food and water.. The shift team immediately contacted the relevant actors in the region, including UNHCR, and learned that the Greek Border Police was reportedly already looking for the group. The following day, the shift team received information that parts of the group had been pushed back to Turkey and that their shoes and other belongings had been taken away or broken by the Greek authorities. The shift team maintained contact with a contact person as well as relevant NGO and International Organizations. The contact person alerted the shift team at 16.50 on July 22 that 12 travellers were in a Turkish detention centre, including her brother and sister. On July 23, The Alarm Phone was able to speak to one person from the returned and confirm that they had been pushed back to Turkey. The Alarm Phone was not able to gain information about all travellers in the group, as several have disappeared after the Turkish authorities appeared and started arresting them. Allegedly, some could escape but at least one person of the arrested got reportedly returned to Syria. A follow-up is still ongoing. Among the group were two kids, two women and two sick persons.