Almost four weeks after what was probably the biggest refugee accident of all time in the Mediterranean, the EU border protection agency is requesting information on older pushback cases – the deadline for this expires today. Could the Frontex operation end?
The letter has it all. It is addressed to the head of the border protection department of the Greek police. It is signed by Hans Leitjens, Director of the EU border protection agency Frontex.
He calls on Greece to provide “all available information” by today. This is “of the utmost importance,” Leitjens repeated during a survey by EU parliamentarians in Brussels last Thursday.
We are waiting for more information on three incidents – also to see whether this should have any consequences for cooperation with Greece, according to the Frontex boss.
Does Greece participate in pushbacks?
Among other things, it is about a particularly clearly documented pushback case. He was videotaped by an Austrian activist in April.
On the Greek island of Lesbos, refugees were taken to the beach in a white van and driven to a Greek coast guard boat. The boat exposed the migrants to the high seas in a life raft. Later, the Turkish Coast Guard came and took the people back to Turkey.
Such repatriations violate EU and international law. Greece’s government has repeatedly denied involvement. In this case, too.
Frontex: Offered help
Now, after the serious accident off the Greek coast, in which a fishing boat sank with several hundred people on board and which initially has nothing to do with the pushback cases, Frontex boss Leitjens is distancing himself from Greece. His agency is committed to protecting the borders. But also to ensure the safety and well-being of those who are in need there.
Leitjens describes the procedure in the case of the sunken boat as follows: A Frontex reconnaissance aircraft discovered the cutter and informed the Greek authorities. Then it had to turn around. In the course of this, help was offered twice at an early stage, in the form of a reconnaissance drone. But no answer was received.
Later, the Greek authorities asked Frontex to send the drone to another case south of Crete. About 50 people were rescued there.
contradictory Information on the role of the Coast Guard
The Greek authorities do not comment further and refer to the ongoing investigations. Meanwhile, the allegations continue. Those who were rescued stick to their account that the Greek coast guard pulled the fishing boat with a rope and thus capsized it. The Coast Guard denies that.
Several media have recently seen the court documents and the log of the coast guard boat. This strengthens the suspicion that the refugee boat could have been pulled by the Greek coast guard, at least temporarily.
Yesterday, however, the Greek private broadcaster Mega published a video that could exonerate the coast guard. It shows the fishing trawler swaying from side to side without external influence and almost capsizing. The video is not yet verified. It was recorded by the Coast Guard itself.
Sea Court in Piraeus assigned with case
The maritime court in the port city of Piraeus is now to clarify what role the coast guard played. Lawyer Maria Papamina represents survivors of the accident. And she criticizes the fact that the Maritime Court is now responsible and no longer the public prosecutor’s office. It is reminiscent of another shipwreck from 2014 that was supposed to be worked up there.
According to Papamina, Greece was ultimately condemned by the European Court of Justice. Because, in his opinion, it could have saved the people who were on the ship at the time, but it didn’t. And: because the investigation was not carried out as it should have been in criminal proceedings, according to the lawyer.
EU Commission does not want an international investigation
The demand for an independent, international investigation is also made by many EU parliamentarians. EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johannson rejects this. That’s the way it’s organized, says Johannson in front of EU parliamentarians.
It is the responsibility of each Member State to clarify such things. The Commission itself has no power to launch an international investigation. And that’s why you have to trust the national investigations.
Greece’s new migration minister, Dimitris Kairidis of the conservative Nea Dimokratia party, has criticized that the Frontex letter to journalists had been leaked. A reply from the Greek side to the letter is likely to be made in secret today. Both sides have already indicated that they want to continue working together.