Rights group demands independent probe into drowning of 78 irregular migrants off coast of Greece

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Amnesty International demanded on Friday an urgent independent investigation into the drowning of at least 78 irregular migrants after their boat capsized off the coast of southwestern Greece earlier this week.

“So many questions demand answers. Why was a search and rescue operation not launched much sooner? What caused the ship to capsize? Those who lost their lives, survivors, and their families deserve transparency, truth, and justice,” said the right group’s researcher on migration Adriana Tidona in a statement.

Earlier, the head of the EU's border agency, Frontex, Hans Leijtens, said Greek authorities were alerted about the fishing boat on which irregular migrants were sitting a day before it capsized, drowning at least 78 of them off the coast of southwestern Greece on Wednesday.

A total of 104 migrants were rescued, but the number of deaths is feared to rise as survivors said the vessel was carrying more than 600 migrants, mostly from Pakistan, Egypt, and Syria.

In the statement, Amnesty International researcher Tidona demanded an "urgent, thorough, independent, and impartial investigation" into the death.

Rejecting the Greek coast guard's claim that an unspecified number of people on the boat refused assistance and wanted to continue their perilous journey to Italy, she stated, "There were hundreds of people on the boat and it is not possible that they were all consulted on their wishes."

She said, “The Greek government had specific responsibilities toward every passenger on the vessel, which was clearly in distress.”

She argued that the fatal tragedy could have been avoided.

“European politicians could have prevented this from happening by establishing safe and legal routes for people to arrive in Europe,” she said.

Amnesty International is calling on Greek authorities to release more information about the events that led to their decision not to rescue the boat sooner, as well as the EU border agency Frontex to release information and aerial imagery gathered during their observation of the events, Tidona stated.