Tracing a tragedy: How hundreds of migrants drowned on Greece’s watch

By Imogen Piper, Joyce Sohyun Lee, Claire Parker and Elinda Labropoulou *originally pubished in The Washington PostJuly 5 at 10:00 a.m.717 The earliest of more than a dozen distress calls came the morning of June 13. On a boat overpacked with migrants, water had run out and the situation was deteriorating. Yet the Greek coast guard did not call for a high-priority rescue operation.…

Everyone Knew the Migrant Ship Was Doomed. No One Helped.

*First Published on The New York Times By Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Karam Shoumali Matina Stevis-Gridneff reported from Athens and Brussels. Karam Shoumali reported from Berlin. From air and by sea, using radar, telephone and radio, officials watched and listened for 13 hours as the migrant ship Adriana lost power, then drifted aimlessly off the coast of Greece in a slowly…

Drowning in Lies

*First Published on Lighthouse Reports Greece tries to cover up its own role in the Pylos shipwreck by tampering with evidence On the night of 13 June, a vessel carrying around 750 men, women and children mainly from Pakistan, Egypt and Syria capsized in the Central Mediterranean, in Greek waters. The Greek authorities had been aware of…

Greece boat wreck victims asked for prayers before leaving Libya

Families of those on board recall the heartbreaking farewells they shared as hopes of finding any more survivors vanish. By Moira Lavelle and Vedat Yeler *First Published on Al Jazeera Naeem Afridi last spoke to his brother, Hameedullah, on June 12 as he was travelling on a boat from Libya headed to Europe. “Hameedullah told me ‘Don’t worry. I’m just…

The Egyptian government must provide support to the families of the Egyptian victims and missing persons in the Greek boat disaster… and all must cooperate to ensure an independent investigation is made

*First Published on Refugees Platform in Egypt Refugees Platform in Egypt (RPE) is in full solidarity with the families of the victims and the missing in the shipwreck off the Greek coast, and we call on the Egyptian government to intervene urgently and take immediate measures to support the families of the missing Egyptians and provide them…

Disbelief and anger among Greek shipwreck victims’ relatives as millions spent on Titan rescue effort

*First Published on The Guardian Disparity between rescue responses has sparked debate in Pakistan about double standards Anees Majeed, who lost five relatives in the boat that sank off Greece on 14 June, watched in disbelief and growing anger as a frantic, multimillion-dollar rescue effort played out for five other men lost at sea last week. Like thousands of…

A ship apart: The making of a wreck

*First Puplished on MadaMasr An Egyptian fishing trawler, navigated by inexperienced migrants departing from the shores of eastern Libya for a new life in Italy, got lost in the sea within a day of setting sail. A hundred people were on the deck. But the majority of the over 700 migrants were locked downstairs in the “fridge.”…