Tra il 26 Ottobre e l’1 Novembre, l’Alarm Phone ha fatto esperienza dei casi più emergenziali dal momento del suo lancio all’incirca un anno fa.
Nel corso di soli sette giorni, siamo stati allertati di un totale di 100 casi d’imbarcazioni in pericolo – tutte tranne una nel mar Egeo – e siamo stati in grado di fornire aiuto e supporto a diverse migliaia di persone in viaggio, sia su imbarcazioni in pericolo in mare, sia a quante si trovavano abbandonate su diverse isole greche. Facendo questo, abbiamo cooperato con e contato su l’irrinunciabile lavoro di numerosi volontari, persone tramite e reti di supporto, che ci hanno inoltrato chiamate di emergenza, ci hanno fornito informazioni e ci hanno aiutato a seguire i numerosi incidenti.
La forte crescita di allerte per l’Alarm Phone riflette anche l’enorme aumento di attraversamenti delle frontiere nel mare Egeo, dove più di 210.000 viaggiatori sono entrati in Unione Europea nel corso del solo ultimo mese – circa lo stesso numero che nell’intero anno del 20141. Senza alcuna prospettiva di ingresso legale e con delle condizioni climatiche ancora in peggioramento nelle settimane a venire, le persone in viaggio bisognose di protezione tentano l’ultima chance di entrare in Europa per mezzo di traversate pericolose che mettono a repentaglio la vita.
Conseguenza fatale, la settimana passata è anche stata la più mortale dell’anno nel mar Egeo, dove da Gennaio più di 450 persone hanno perso la vita. La scorsa settimana, in almeno sette naufragi, più di 100 persone in viaggio sono affogate, inclusi molti bambini e neonati, e molte altre sono ancora disperse.
Solo grazie al sacrificio e al coraggio di pescatori Greci, Turchi e di molti volontari del primo soccorso, andati in mare per salvare donne, bambini, uomini finiti fuori bordo, sono state prevenute centinaia di morti ulteriori.
L’Alarm Phone è stato allertato, ed è stato poi direttamente testimone, del drammatico naufragio di un’imbarcazione in legno, con più di 300 persone a bordo, che si è capovolta a nord dell’isola greca di Lesbo mercoledi 28 Ottobre. In seguito a questo solo incidente, più di 50 persone sono state trovate morte o sono ancora disperse. In un’altra allerta lo stesso giorno, l’Alarm Phone è stato informato di un bambino di 5 anni, il cui corpo è stato portato a riva nei giorni seguenti, che ha perso la vita dopo che un gruppo di persone è rimasto abbandonato a Agathonisi. In ogni caso, gli incidenti mortali non capitano solo nel mare Egeo. Almeno 39 persone hanno perso la vita nel mediterraneo occidentale, dopo che le autorità spagnole hanno risposto solo in ritardo alle chiamate di soccorso da parte degli attivisti e perciò hanno prolungato la rapidità dell’operazione di soccorso
Contro un tale panorama, gli appelli per un cambiamento radicale nelle politiche europee sui confini si stanno facendo sempre più forti.
Spyros Galino, il sindaco di Lesbo, ha proposto di utilizzare le navi passeggeri per portare le persone in modo sicuro dalla costa turca alle isole greche. Altri politici greci hanno insistito con il primo ministro Alexis Tsipras per abbattere il muro di Evros e per aprire il confine tra la Grecia e la Turchia, al fine di impedire le persone di rischiare la propria vita nella traversata dell’Egeo.
Nel villaggio greco di Kastanies, sabato 31 Ottobre, circa 500 persone hanno marciato verso la recinzione di frontiera e ne hanno chiesto la distruzione. L’Alarm Phone ha sottolineato a lungo la necessità di tali traghetti di linea e di vie sicure per l’ingresso in Europa. Gli avvenimenti drammatici del’ultima settimana hanno dimostrato ancora una volta che non c’è alternativa all’apertura delle frontiere europee, per finirla con le innumerevoli e insopportabili morti in mare.
Summary of cases
In total, in the past week the Alarm Phone was alerted to 100 emergency situations, 99 of which occurred in the Aegean Sea and 1 in the Central Mediterranean Sea. Summaries of the cases and links to the more detailed reports on http://watchthemed.net can be found below.
Aegean Sea
On Monday the 26th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone dealt with a total of 11 emergency situations in the Aegean Sea. One traveller died after he and his group had stranded on the Greek islands of Agathonisi. The Greek coastguard rescued 6 boats in distress near Lesvos, Chios and Samos. Two groups of travellers arrived in Greece on their own and two were returned back to Turkey by the Turkish coastguard. See: http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/320.
On Tuesday the 27th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone was alerted to a total of 12 emergency situations in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek islands of Nera/Agathonisi, Farmakonisi, Lesvos and Chios. Around midnight we were informed about three groups of travellers who were in distress on their way to the Greek island of Agathonisi or had already stranded on the uninhabited rocky island Nera, close to Agathonisi. All travellers were rescued before midday. Three other groups the Alarm Phone was in contact with arrived independently on Farmakonisi, Lesvos and Chios. Beyond that, while the Turkish coastguard rescued three boats in distress, in three other cases it is likely that the Greek coastguard conducted rescue operations and had brought the travellers to Greece. See: http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/321.
On Wednesday the 28th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone witnessed the most deadly day in the Aegean Sea this year. At least more than 50 travellers had drowned in several shipwrecks near Lesvos, Samos and Agathonisi. The Alarm Phone was alerted to at least 14 boats in distress in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek islands of Lesvos, Farmakonisi, Chios and Samos. North of Lesvos we witnessed the dramatic rescue of 274 travellers whose boat has capsized, with at least 75 people drowned. From Agathonisi we learned about a missing boy, who was washed up dead at the coast at the next day. In 4 cases the Greek coastguard conducted rescue operations following our calls. Beyond that, three groups had stranded on Greek and Turkish island, two groups were rescued by the Turkish coastguard and another two groups managed to arrive in Greece on their own. In some further cases the whereabouts of travellers in distress could not be verified after we had alerted the Greek or Turkish coastguards. See: http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/323.
On Thursday the 29th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone was alerted to 14 groups of travellers in distress in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek islands of Chios, Kos, Samos, Lesvos and on the islands of Agathonisi and Ro. While the Greek coastguard rescued 4 boats, 6 groups of travellers reached the Greek islands on their own or were rescued by Greek fishing vessels. Two groups of travellers had stranded on the Greek islands of Agathonisi and Ro respectively, but were eventually provided with help. In two cases rescue can only be assumed.
See: http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/324.
On Friday the 30th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone was alerted to 14 boats in distress in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek islands of Samos, Chios, Lesvos and Agathonisi. In three cases the travellers eventually arrived on Greek islands independently and one group returned to Turkey after their engine had broken down. The Greek coastguard rescued 4 boats and the Turkish coastguard 3 boats. In three other cases we were not able to establish contact to the travellers following the initial distress calls. See: http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/325.
On Saturday the 31st of October 2015 the Alarm Phone was alerted to 23 cases of distress in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek islands of Lesvos, Chios, Ro, Agathonisi, Pasas, Samos, Farmakonisi and Kos. In 16 cases we were able to contribute to rescue operations either on land or at sea by informing the responsible authorities or we provided valuable information to the travellers. In all other cases different support networks took care about the travellers or the provided information did not allow us to take action. See: http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/326.
On Sunday the 1st of November 2015 the Alarm Phone was alerted to 11 groups of travellers in distress in the Aegean Sea. While 7 boats were in distress at sea near the Greek islands of Chios, Kos, Farmakonisi and Samos, 4 groups had stranded on Glaros, Nera, Farmakonisi and Kastellorizo. See: http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/327.
Central Mediterranean Sea
On Wednesday the 28th of October 2015 the activist network ‘Safe the Migrants’ alerted the Alarm Phone to a boat in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea and passed on a satellite phone number. Although we could not reach the travellers directly and thus had no further information, we alerted the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Rome and forwarded the satellite phone number. The MRCC had already talked to the travellers in distress and was in possession of their current position. In the following hours we constantly checked the credit of the satellite phone and tried to call them. In another phone call at 10.40am the MRCC in Rome confirmed the rescue of the boat in distress. See: http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/322.
[1] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/02/record-218000-people-crossed-mediterranean-in-october-un-says
[2] http://missingmigrants.iom.int/en/migrants-continue-flow-greece-balkans
[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/30/world/europe/as-more-children-drown-volunteers-on-greek-island-say-rescues-are-left-largely-to-them.html; for a statement of the Spanish lifeguards from ‘Proactiva Open Arms‘ see: https://www.facebook.com/HumansOfTheRefuge/posts/905500376165323
[4] http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/29/oestp-inmigracion-marruecos-espa-a-idESKCN0SN2IZ20151029
[5] http://www.ekathimerini.com/202994/article/ekathimerini/news/new-refugee-drownings-in-aegean-prompt-tsipras-outcry; http://www.euractiv.com/sections/global-europe/tsipras-under-pressure-tear-downturkish-border-fence-319103
