Report: Nektaria Psaraki

‘They hit us’: testimonies given to hospital staff

Health sources on Chios, speaking anonymously, told The Press Project that survivors said the coast guard vessel struck the refugees’ boat, rather than the refugees’ boat colliding with the coast guard vessel, as the coast guard claims.

‘I got in touch with a migrant and asked him about the circumstances of the shipwreck. He told us that the coast guard did not make any signals. He told us that if they had made signals, we would have stopped. They had their wives and children with them and, as they told us, they had reached Greece anyway. Suddenly they saw the coast guard boat coming towards them. They told us that it hit them and ran over them. Of course, this also explains the severity of the fractures. These are not injuries resulting from a collision. They are almost war-like wounds!’, a health worker told The Press Project.

Another hospital worker, who also asked to remain anonymous, described what nursing staff said they were told in the first hours after survivors were admitted.

‘Only one or two were able to speak. The nursing staff asked them what happened. One migrant raised his hands and pointed to the course of the boat the refugees were on, and with his other hand he showed us that the coast guard boat came and hit them. He has no reason to lie. In any case, what he says is justified by the severity of the injuries. Unless everyone was sitting at the front of the boat…’, the health worker said.

The same source said the survivors’ injuries were severe and that those who were conscious were in a very poor psychological state.

‘They were brought to us frozen and scared. They were shaking. Among them were 10 children who were screaming. At the moment, three are in the ICU, two refugees lost their babies, while one also lost her spleen. Very serious surgeries have been performed: craniotomy, nephrectomy, fractures to the head and chest. We only encounter such injuries in very serious traffic accidents,’ the health worker said.

Coast guard statement and claims about camera footage

The survivors’ accounts, as relayed by hospital staff, directly contradict the coast guard’s public statement.

The Hellenic Coast Guard says that, during a scheduled patrol, a patrol vessel spotted ‘an inflatable speedboat with foreign passengers’ moving without navigation lights towards the eastern coast of Chios, in the Myrsinidio sea area. It claims the operator did not comply with light and sound signals, reversed course, and collided with the coast guard vessel on its starboard side. The coast guard says the speedboat then capsised and sank, throwing all passengers into the sea.

According to a report in Kathimerini, the incident was not recorded because, although a camera was on the coast guard vessel, the crew had not activated it. In a television appearance, the migration minister, Thanos Plevris, said: ‘What I know is that there are no cameras like in the Hellenic Police to see whether or not an incident has occurred. They are operational, used at night to detect targets at a distance. This operates whenever there are operational reasons. In Chios, it was not needed, because the speedboat was in front of it.’

Survivors guarded in hospital as inquiry begins

Health sources told The Press Project that the preliminary inquiry is being carried out inside the hospital, with statements taken from people who are seriously injured and in psychological shock.

‘Only the health personnel and the coast guard have contact with the shipwrecked. Identification takes place inside the hospital, which is very difficult because there’s chaos. The preliminary investigation also takes place here, even though they are in this condition. Fortunately, at least they have an interpreter in Farsi. The day before yesterday they were saying that the “smuggler” was probably killed, but yesterday they arrested a Moroccan who was transferred to the hospital cell and is under guard. It seems that they will charge him with everything,’ one source said.

The Moroccan man arrested as the alleged driver, accused of trafficking, is being guarded in a hospital cell at Chios hospital and is reported to be suffering fractures and other injuries.

‘Since yesterday noon, the wards have been filled with coast guard officers. Not just the Moroccan’s ward, but everyone’s. The refugees are in the hospital under guard. They only go out to be examined by doctors. What is the reason for all this? Yesterday they were not under guard,’ the same source said.

The Press Project also reported that two forensic doctors from Athens are currently on Chios and, together with the local forensic doctor, will carry out autopsies to determine the exact causes of death.

Minister alleges ‘narrative shaping’ by NGOs

The health minister, Adonis Georgiadis, posted a statement that drew particular attention. Once again, he moved to intervene publicly in a case still unfolding, apparently seeking to head off potential revelations. He said he had been briefed directly by the hospital director about the ‘appearance of NGO members’, alleging that their ‘possible aim’ was to ‘shape a narrative’ for asylum applications or to prepare complaints against the Coast Guard, including allegations of pushbacks.

‘This is clearly a deterrence operation’, says RSA

The Press Project contacted Refugee Support Aegean (RSA), a legal and advocacy organisation working on refugee and asylum seekers’ rights in Greece, which described the incident as ‘a clear deterrence operation’. Irini Gaitanou told The Press Project:

‘It is clearly a deterrence practice. Even in their statement they state that they were signalled to turn back. The boat was in Greek territorial waters. You are not obliged to do this when you have a boat in Greek territorial waters. You are obliged to carry out a rescue operation and nothing more. We are talking about a violation of elementary rules of law that resulted in this incident. Of course, this is not the first time. Our country already has convictions for practices of pushing back refugees and migrants in the Aegean!’

She added: ‘We demand an independent investigation. It is almost funny to hear again that the cameras were not working. It is their obligation to have the cameras working!’

Fears over transfer to Vial facility without electricity

Members of the social space Antivaro Chios told The Press Project they had been informed that survivors discharged from hospital would be transferred to the Vial facility, which they said currently has no electricity.

‘We were informed that they will be transferred to one of the worst refugee camps: Vial. This particular camp is without electricity. And when the electricity comes, people with crutches, head injuries, etc. who need care, instead of providing them with even a hotel room, will be in a camp where they will have to travel long distances even to the toilet,’ they said.

They also said Chios hospital was at its limits, citing statements by health staff at a press conference.

‘We visited the paediatric clinic as volunteers and saw the children in playpens… in no way are the employees responsible for this. We know that the hospital is at its limits,’ they said.

Antivaro Chios said the unanswered questions remained ‘relentless’: how an inflatable refugee boat could allegedly ram a coast guard vessel; how the incident could have happened in complete darkness, given it was the second day of a full moon and visibility was, they claimed, clear; why cameras were once again not operating on coast guard vessels; and whether the authorities intended to place all responsibility on one migrant by invoking trafficking charges.

‘Will we experience what happened in Pylos again?’, they asked.

Read more:

Check our reporting on Refugee Support Aegean’s findings on Coast Guard responsibility for deaths, pushbacks and the destruction of refugee boats; our brief summary of the tragically similar Pylos shipwreck case and our on-the-ground coverage from Kalamata on why the ‘Pylos 9’ are not traffickers; our participation in a refugee rescue mission in the central Mediterranean; and our report from Lesbos on 24 humanitarians, among them the now famous Sara Mardini, who were cleared after an eight-year attempt to criminalise solidarity with refugees.

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