While Turkey and Greece have been blaming each other for the migrant problem recently, a Syrian refugee stranded in the Aegean Sea talked about his experiences and said that the Greek authorities left them to their fate. As a result, he declared that the Turkish authorities had saved them.
While the tension between Turkey and Greece has been escalating recently with mutual statements, especially the migrant crisis at the border, the British press brought to its pages the ill-treatment of immigrants by the Greek police, and even the process that led to their death.
The British newspaper The Guardian talked to the refugees who were fighting for their lives after their boats sank in the Aegean Sea and managed to escape at the last moment.
One of the names who spoke to the newspaper was Alaa Hamoudi. Hamoudi, who sank the small boat with 22 people, managed to hold on to life at the last moment.
THERE ARE CHILDREN AND THE ELDERLY BETWEEN
Hamoudi thought he had started a new life the day before this happened to him. He was going to reach Greece and apply for asylum, and his aim was to go to Germany. However, the plan did not go as he had hoped…
Instead, Hamoudi said Greek authorities returned the refugees to shore, put them in an inflatable boat without a motor or navigation equipment and released them into the sea. “They left us on this little raft in the middle of the sea,” the young Syrian said. “We didn’t know what to do,” said Hamoudi. We are in the middle of the sea and the water is all around us. The people in the group began to cry. People, including a 12-year-old girl and two old men.” said.
‘GREEK BOATS TO SUNK US…’
Hamoudi said the current pushed the raft into Greece, as he recalled 17 hours at sea, hungry, thirsty, and without hope of rescue. He said that a Greek boat approached the boat, creating waves and even zigzagging to push them back. “The ship was flooded,” Hamoudi said. People were very scared. A lot of people screamed and some cried.” said.
Speaking to the British newspaper The Guardian, the Syrian man finally said that the Turkish coast guard rescued them and is now in Turkey. The Syrian also announced that he is preparing to sue Frontex, the European border and coast guard agency he believes was involved in the operation.
500 THOUSAND EURO CLAIM
Hamoudi remembers seeing a red light in the sky and hearing a plane in the distance. According to an investigation conducted by Bellingcat, a private surveillance plane working for Frontex has passed twice over asylum seekers left adrift at sea.
Omer Shatz, legal director of Hamoudi Front-ex, has sought compensation of 500,000 euros for his client for numerous alleged violations, including the right to life and the right to seek asylum.
