“The scandalous treatment of survivors acquitted of trafficking charges continues in the person of the last detained survivor. How is it possible that they are denying asylum to a Pylos shipwreck survivor? How far will the brutality and games of the government, the Minister of Migration and Asylum, and the Hellenic Police go to cover up the crime? Are they now attempting to deport the victims and eyewitnesses of the crime?” KEERFA’s statement questions.

The statement criticises the government’s actions, including an interview with the BBC, alleging that these were efforts to deflect blame for the tragedy. “The government and the Prime Minister did everything, including giving an interview with the BBC, to deflect responsibility for their crime: the failure to rescue and the violent towing of the refugee boat by Coast Guard vessel 920, which led to the boat capsizing and the deaths of over 600 people,” it adds.

To mark the one-year anniversary of the fatal shipwreck, KEERFA is organising a rally on June 14 at Propylaea in Athens at 19:00. “We are protesting and demanding the punishment of the government and the Coast Guard who caused this tragedy. On the same day, protests will be held across Greece, as well as in many European cities and in Pakistan, demanding justice for the victims of Pylos,” the statement concludes.

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