Helena Smith |theguardian.com | 5 November 2021|
Greece accused of ‘biggest pushback in years’ of stricken refugee ship
It was hailed as the biggest search-and-rescue operation in the eastern Mediterranean for a decade. But the bid to save hundreds of refugees on a stricken ship in the Aegean Sea has led to allegations that the operation bore all the hallmarks of an illegal pushback before the Greek coastguard was forced to change tactics.
Only days after 382 asylum seekers disembarked on the island of Kos, criticism has mounted over their “unnecessarily prolonged” ordeal at sea.
Dr Apostolos Veizis, who heads the humanitarian aid organisation Intersos Hellas, said: “These were men, women and children seeking protection and they should have been taken to a safe port after the vessel sent out a distress signal.
“The nearest port was just a few miles away. Instead, they were kept on the vessel for four days, an unnecessarily prolonged period without access to basic services.”