Επαναπροώθηση ΛΣ-ΕΛΑΚΤ Αιγαίο 01/04/2020

• Date of incident: 1-4-2020
• Location: Collected: Aegean Sea
• Law enforcement involved: Greek coastguards
• Number of people pushed back: 40
• Nationalities: Respondent: Iraqi
• How many had documents for sure: –
• Demographics (women, children, etc): –
• Method of expulsion: Intercepted by coastguard, fuel confiscated, left to drift.
• Documenting organisation: Just Security
• Description: Family and group were trying to reach Chios four times in a row. The last time, they were intercepted among 40 other people, their fuel taken, towed and left in Turkish water.
• Documents : https://www.justsecurity.org/70309/tents-at-sea-how-greek-officials-use-rescue-equipment-for-illegal-deportations/

Tents at Sea: How Greek Officials Use Rescue Equipment for Illegal Deportations

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An Iraqi refugee whom we interviewed over WhatsApp — we will refer to as “Hatim” for safety reasons — told us that he has been pushed back to Turkey by Greek authorities on three occasions since July 2019. Hatim and his family fled to Turkey in 2014, when ISIS took over their home city of Mosul. They were selected for resettlement in the United States, and had just finished their first interview when Trump’s January 2017 Executive Order interrupted the program. On the night of April 1, 2020, he and his family made four separate attempts to reach the Greek island of Chios. On the last attempt, their rubber dinghy, carrying approximately 40 people, entered Greek territorial waters and was intercepted by the Greek Coast Guard. The Coast Guard confiscated the fuel from their boat and returned them to Turkish waters, leaving them to drift.

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