Coast Guard, Shipping Min. on rescue of 96 migrants at sea off Halki island
According to Lagadianos, the incident involving migrants and refugees is one of the largest and most successful rescue operations in the Aegean Sea. ANA – MPA/ Orestis Panagiotou
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
A large-scale operation to rescue 96 foreign nationals at sea starting Tuesday evening was completed by the Greek Coast Guard off Halki island, despite harassment by the Turkish authorities, Greek Port Authority/Coast Guard spokesperson Nikos Lagadianos said in a press briefing on Wednesday.
“A huge rescue operation has been carried out as of Tuesday to rescue foreign nationals in the sea region 21 nautical miles west of Halki in international waters, and within an area of Greek search and rescue responsibility,” he said. “Ninety-six people have been rescued so far and 77 have been transferred to Karpathos and Rhodes islands, while 19 were collected by Turkish Coast Guard vessels,” he added, noting that those rescued will undergo tests for Covid-19.
According to Lagadianos, the incident involving migrants and refugees is one of the largest and most successful rescue operations in the Aegean Sea, given the number of migrants, the fact it took place mostly at night, and the fact that many – including children – were not wearing life jackets. “The port authorities have already identified three people among them who are allegedly the traffickers, and they were arrested,” the spokesperson said. The rescue operation continues, he said.
In his statements, he underlined that with this operation Greece proves that it protects both the Greek and European borders and also saves lives in danger. The increased patrols and protection of sea borders by the Coast Guard has reduced the number of migration flows, he added, and arrivals at Greek islands by at least 95 pct compared to 2019.
Lagadianos referred to an enormous effort of the Greek authorities “as organised criminal rings acting in Turkey have repeatedly attempted to illegally transfer a large number of migrants and refugees.” As he said, lately they use sailboats or other pleasure boats to bring them to Europe, specifically to southern Italy, and remain in international waters and at great distance from Greek islands, to avoid detection. “For example, more than 25 such cases have occurred in the last 3 months, and been managed successfully by both Greek and Italian authorities. The Turkish authorities have been repeatedly informed about this specific phenomenon, without response,” he said.
Shipping Ministry
Minister of Shipping and Island Policy Yiannis Plakiotakis congratulated the Coast Guard staff that helped rescue 96 migrants at sea off the Halki island and in international waters overnight on Tuesday, and commended them for protecting the borders of Greece and Europe and saving lives.
In a separate statement, the Ministry said that “unfortunately, during operations last night to locate possible missing persons, and after a great number of people had been rescued successfully in a short time, two Turkish patrol boats approached the area.”
It added that the Turkish vessels “made no substantial contribution to the search for people in danger at sea in the area, nor did they announce their presence” in the person coordinating the Greek Coast Guard mission. “They were also calling on nearby ships in the area to leave,” the statement said.
According to the ministry, the Turkish patrol boats “approached and received from a Maltese-flagged ship of Turkish interests in the area 19 survivors. They thus made the work of the Greek Coast Guard harder, both in identifying the survivors and in the development of the search operation and the rescue of possible missing persons.”
The statement concludes, “At any rate, Greece will continue to do what is necessary to guard both its own and Europe’s borders, and to protect human lives.”
Source: ANA – MPA
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