ATHENS: A year after one of the Mediterranean’s worst migrant shipwrecks killed more than 600 people, lawyers for survivors pursuing a criminal case against the Greek coast guard gave fresh details on the case Thursday.
The rusty and overloaded trawler Adriana sank on the night of June 13-14 last year. It was carrying more than 750 people, according to the United Nations, but only 82 bodies were found.
Lawyers representing dozens of survivors held a news conference after a court in Kalamata last month dropped charges against nine Egyptian men accused of being part of the criminal gang operating the trawler.
Among the 104 survivors, 53 have filed a group criminal complaint, alleging the coast guard took hours to mount a response despite warnings from EU border agency Frontex and the NGO Alarm Phone.
“This was a crime committed over a 15-hour period,” Eleni Spathana, a lawyer with the Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) group, told journalists.
The case is still under preliminary investigation by the naval court of Piraeus, but the survivors’ lawyers say they have found many irregularities in the Greek coast guard’s actions before and after the incident.
The boat was sailing from Tobruk, Libya to Italy. In addition to Syrians and Palestinians, it was carrying nearly 350 Pakistanis, according to the Pakistani government.
Survivors said the coast guard was towing the vessel when it capsized and sank 47 nautical miles off the coast of Pylos.
The coast guard has insisted it communicated with people on board who “refused any help,” rendering any rescue operation in high seas risky.
But on Thursday Maria Papamina, legal coordinator for the Greek Council for Refugees, said the coast guard chose to dispatch a patrol boat from Crete — and not a larger rescue tugboat stationed closer by at the Peloponnese port of Gythio.
The patrol boat’s voyage data recorder was damaged and was only repaired two months after the accident, Papamina added. Nor was there any video footage from the patrol boat.
“There are reasonable concerns of an attempted cover-up,” she said.
Spathana of the RSA added: “There was clearly no intent to rescue before the boat sank. Not only is this terrifying, it is criminally liable.”
Eighteen of the victims remain unburied, including eight still to be identified.
The independent Greek ombudsman’s office has launched a disciplinary investigation into the case, after the coast guard saw no grounds to do so, the lawyers said Thursday.
On Friday, victims’ relatives in Pakistan plan to gather in the city of Lala Musa to protest the lack of response from the Greek authorities to the tragedy, organizers in Athens said.
Migrant shipwreck victims pursue case against Greek coast guard
https://arab.news/4cv85
Migrant shipwreck victims pursue case against Greek coast guard
- 53 have filed a group criminal complaint, alleging the coast guard took hours to mount a response despite warnings from EU border agency Frontex and the NGO Alarm Phone
- The case is still under preliminary investigation by the naval court of Piraeus
Migrants at largest US detention camp face foul water, rotten food, congresswoman says
- “The drinking water at the facility continues to taste foul, the food quality for detainees has not improved,” said Escobar, who represents the El Paso area
Detainees at the largest US migrant detention camp endure foul-tasting drinking water, rotten food and inadequate health care, according to a US congresswoman who called the tent facility in El Paso, Texas, “inhumane.” US Representative Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat, made the allegations in a letter last week to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem based on complaints from migrants at the new $1.2 billion facility, called Camp East Montana. “Conditions at Camp East Montana are dangerous and inhumane,” Escobar wrote. “It is increasingly clear that it is not a safe nor professionally managed facility.” Asked for comment on the letter, the Department of Homeland Security gave a statement issued in September that denied the center violated federal standards for immigrant detention, such as restricting access to legal representation, or was inhumane.
“All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members,” DHS said. The center has become a target of criticism by Democratic legislators and immigrant advocates opposed to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Escobar wrote that conditions at the camp on the Fort Bliss US Army base had not improved since she first protested to Noem weeks after it opened in August.
“The drinking water at the facility continues to taste foul, the food quality for detainees has not improved,” said Escobar, who represents the El Paso area. She added that detainees faced sewage backups and flooding while only the most ill inmates were referred to the camp medical unit. The camp consists of temporary tent structures meant to house up to 5,000 detainees and relieve overcrowding at other Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities. Trump has vowed record deportations of migrants with criminal records in the US illegally. Democrats have argued that federal agents are targeting people indiscriminately to achieve his goals. Immigrant advocate groups have called for the closure of another migrant detention camp in Florida due to alleged inhumane conditions.
