Since the beginning of May, a computer problem has prevented migrants from accessing the online platform for registering their asylum applications: “Alkyoni“. According to Refugee Support Aegean (RSA), this problem has ‘frozen’ asylum procedures throughout Greece.
AlarmPhone was alerted between May 22 June 3 that at least 287 people were in distress stranded in the Evros region in various boats, in need of water, food and medical supply. In each case, Greek soldiers and authorities have been warned but no reaction has followed, or they proceeded to evacuation several days after the alert, leaving those people in distress and in danger of death.
According to MSF, since June 2022, 940 people disappeared after arriving in Lesbos. The main reason for this is the numerous pushbacks to which migrants, asylum seekers and refugees are subjected when they arrive on the Aegean islands.
On May 19, the New York Times published a video showing the Greek coast guards pushing back 12 migrants in the sea, in Lesbos. Migrants were allegedly abandoned at sea, to be collected by the Turkish authorities and taken to a detention center in Izmir. After the publication of this video, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the outgoing Greek prime minister, has ordered an investigation.
On May 17, a boat with 40 people was adrift during more than 4 hours near Lesvos. These people sent a video to Alarm Phone showing a big vessel approaching them. The Greek coast guards confirmed the pushback on May 18 : they brought these people back to shore in Turkey.
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