Shipwreck Survivors Say Greek Coast Guard Did Not Respond to Calls
Survivors of a deadly shipwreck in the Aegean Sea say Greek authorities were notified of a boat in distress but didn’t launch a rescue mission until it was too late, Der Spiegel reports.
At least 16 people died, including several children and teenagers, when the boat carrying an Afghan and an Iraqi family from Turkey capsized last week. Two women and one man survived.
In hospital on the Greek island of Samos, the survivors told the Greek minister of migration, Dimitris Vitsas, they had called a relative on the island warning that the boat was sinking. When the relative called the police, he was assured the family was safe.
A search-and-rescue mission by the Greek coast guard was not launched until 24 hours later. The survivors were found by a resident of the nearby island of Agathonisi after they swam to shore. Der Spiegel reported that Greek shipping minister Panagiotis Kouroumblis promised survivors he would investigate what happened.
Violence in Northeastern DRC Displaces 100,000 People
More than 100,000 people have fled a surge in violence in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Doctors Without Borders warned.
Refugees told the medical charity of villages being torched and civilians hunted down and killed in Ituri province of DRC. Most of the displaced fled to other areas of DRC but tens of thousands have taken boats across Lake Albert into Uganda.
The charity said facilities in Uganda were overwhelmed by the influx, especially amid a recent cholera outbreak that has killed 36 people and hospitalized some 1,800.
Israel Deportation Plans Delayed by Legal Challenges
Israeli government plans to deport asylum seekers are on hold amid a supreme court case and several legal challenges to its refugee policy.
In January, Israel said asylum seekers had until March 31 to depart “voluntarily” to a third country – Rwanda – or face indefinite imprisonment.
The Israeli supreme court froze deportations in mid-March while it considers a legal challenge. This week the court gave the government another extension to outline its deportation policy until April 9. In the meantime, Israel has begun issuing deportation notices and holding migrants in Saharonim prison in the Negev desert.
Israel’s record of granting refugee status to few of the Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers in the country also faces a number of recent legal challenges. One case found that Eritreans who desert the army have grounds for refugee status, while another found Sudanese fleeing genocide in the Nuba mountains have the same right as Darfuris to protection.
Recommended Reads
- The Guardian: ‘I Am Old. I Only Wanted a Small Life. I Have No Hope Left’
- BBC: Is Turkey Going Too Far to Stop Migrant Boats?
- Norwegian Refugee Council: NGO Reaction to the First Draft of the Global Compact on Refugees
- Overseas Development Institute: The Rohingya Crisis: Making the Transition From Emergency to Longer-Term Development