Greek authorities charge two migrants with causing a shipwreck and endangering lives

According to a press statement issued by the Greek coast guard on Wednesday (August 2), “officials from the central port authority in Mytilene carried out the detection and rescue of 40 migrants” in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

In addition, the authorities arrested two of those on board. They are being charged with “causing a shipwreck and exposing people to danger.”

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The coast guard said during a routine patrol, they were informed of the presence of an inflatable boat in the search and rescue region off Lesbos. They say that as the coast guard approached, one of the two people arrested threw the engine of the boat into the sea, while the other person they arrested tore the inflatable dinghy with a sharp object. This resulted in the occupants of the boat being in danger, according to the coast guard.

Rescue operation launched

The coast guard then launched a rescue operation and transferred all 40 people on board their vessel safely. They were all transferred to the port of Mytilene on Lesbos “in good health.”

The port authorities are now carrying out a preliminary investigation into the incident.

The news agency Associated Press (AP) wrote that it wasn’t immediately clear why the two migrants allegedly tried to destroy the vessel on which they were traveling. They added that although reports of similar incidents have been reported in recent weeks off Lesbos “charges against migrants for damaging boats are very rare.”

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The Greek coast guard has stepped up its patrols in recent weeks off Lesbos and in the eastern Aegean in the hope of trying to deter crossings coming from Turkey. Some humanitarian groups working with migrants as well as the Turkish authorities have accused the Greek authorities of trying to secretly push back migrants who managed to reach Greek territory, as well as deterring migrants before they enter Greek waters.

Greek government calls on EU to relaunch naval operation

The Greek government denies all these accusations. In mid-July, Greece called on the EU to come and help stop the migrant boats before they reach Greek waters. In an interview with Politico, published on July 16, the newly appointed Greek Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis petitioned the EU to resume its operations to halt migrant boats before they leave Libya.

“We support the launch of an ‘Operation Sophia-plus’ to break up migrant smuggling routes from Libya,” Kairidis told Politico, referring to the EU sponsored naval operation that operated between 2015 and 2020. The operation’s mission was to disrupt the business of human smuggling and trafficking in the Mediterranean, as well as prevent loss of life at sea and inforce the details of the UN arms embargo on Libya.

Part of Operation Sophia went towards helping to train Libya’s coast guard and navy so that they could also prevent migrant boats from leaving Libya.

In recent years, some boats have left Libya and sailed into Greek waters, instead of on the more usual route towards Italy. One of the most recent resulted in several hundred people dying after an overcrowded fishing boat set off from Libya and sank off the southern coast of Greece in mid-June.

With AP

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