Greek coastguard: Witnesses tok how dia officials throw migrants inside water to meet dia deaths - BBC News Pidgin (2024)

Di Greek coastguard dey responsible for dozens of migrants deaths for di Mediterranean ova a three-year period, according to wetin witnesses tok, including nine pipo wey dem deliberately throw inside di water.

Di nine dey among more dan 40 pipo wey dey alleged say dem die as a result of say dem force dem out of Greek territorial waters, or taken back out to sea afta dem reach Greek islands, BBC analysis bin find.

Di Greek coastguard tell our investigation say dem strongly reject all accusations of illegal activities.

We bin show footage of 12 pipo wey dem load into a Greek coastguard boat, and den abandoned on a small boat, to a former senior Greek coastguard officer. Wen e get up from im chair, and wit di mic still on, im say na “obviously illegal” and “an international crime”.

Di Greek goment don dey accused of forced returns - pushing pipo back towards Turkey, wia dem cross from, wey dey illegal under international law.

But dis na di first time di BBC don calculate di numba of incidents wey allege say fatalities bin occur as a result of di Greek coastguard actions.

Di 15 incidents wey we analyse - dated May 2020-23 - bin result in 43 deaths. Di initial sources na primarily local media, NGOs and di Turkish coastguard.

Verifying such accounts dey extremely difficult - witnesses often disappear, or dem dey too fearful to speak out. But in four of dis cases we dey able to corroborate accounts by speaking wit eye witnesses.

For five of di incidents, migrants say di Greek authorities throw dem directly into di sea. In four of dose cases, dem explain how dem bin land on Greek islands but dem hunt dem down. In several oda incidents, migrants say dem bin put dem inside inflatable rafts witout motors wey go den deflate, or appear say dem don chook am.

One of di accounts wey go well na by a Cameroonian man, wey say dem hunt dem by Greek authorities afta landing on di island of Samos for September 2021.

Like all di pipo wey we interview, im say dem bin dey plan to register on Greek soil as asylum seeker.

“We barely comot di boat, and di police come from behind,” e tell us. “Dem be two policemen dressed in black, and three odas in civilian clothes. Dem wear mask and na only dia eyes you fit see."

E and two odas - anoda from Cameroon and a man from Ivory Coast - dem transfer to a Greek coastguard boat, e tok, wia events bin take a terrifying turn.

“Dem start wit di [oda] Cameroonian. Dem throw am inside di water. Di Ivorian man say: ‘Save me, I no wan die… and den eventually only im hand dey above water, and di bodi dey below.

“Slowly im hand slip under, and di water swallow am.”

Our interviewee say im abductors beat am.

“Dem dey rain down punches ontop my head. E be like say dem dey punch animal.” And den e say dem bin push am, too, into di water - witout a life jacket. Im dey able to swim to shore, but di bodis of di oda two - Sidy Keita and Didier Martial Kouamou Nana - dey recovered on di Turkish coastline.

Di survivor lawyers dey demand make di Greek authorities open a double murder case.

Anoda man, from Somalia, tell di BBC how in March 2021 di Greek army bin catch am on arrival on di island of Chios, wey come hand am to di Greek coastguard.

Im say di coastguard bin tie im hands behind di back, bifor dem drop am into di water.

“Dem throw me zip-tied for di middle of di sea. Dem want make I die,” im tok.

Im say im manage to survive by floating on im back, bifor one of im hands break free from wetin dem use tie am. But di sea get waves, and three for im group die. Our interviewee make am to land wia im dey eventually spotted by di Turkish coastguard.

In di incident wit di highest loss of life - for September 2022 - a boat wey dey carry 85 migrants bin run into trouble near di Greek island of Rhodes wen di motor cut out.

Mohamed, from Syria, tell us dem ring di Greek coastguard for help - wey load them onto a boat, return dem to Turkish waters and put dem in life rafts. Mohamed say di raft wey dem give am and im family no get valve wey dey properly closed.

“We immediately begin to sink, dem see dat… Dem hear us all screaming, and yet dem still leave us,” im tell di BBC.

“Di first child wey die na my cousin son… Afta dat na one by one. Anoda child, anoda child, den my cousin imsef disappear. By di morning seven or eight children don die. My kids no die until di morning… right bifor di Turkish coastguard bin arrive.”

Greek law allow all migrants wey dey seek asylum to register dia claim on several of di islands at special registration centres.

But our interviewees - wey we contact wit di help of migrant support bodi Consolidated Rescue Group - say dem catch am bifor dem fit get to dis centres. Dem say dis men go dey apparently operate undercover - non-uniformed, and often masked.

Human rights groups allege say thousands of pipo wey dey seek asylum for Europe don dey illegally forced back from Greece to Turkey and denied di right to seek asylum, wey dey enshrined in international and EU law.

Austrian activist Fayad Mulla tell us say im discover for imsef how secretive such operations fit be for February last year, on di Greek island of Lesbos.

Driving towards di location of alleged forced return afta a tip-off, im dey stopped by a man in a hoodie - wey dey later revealed to dey work for di police. Im say di police den attempt to delete di footage of how dem stop am from di dashcam and charge am wit resisting a police officer.

Ultimately, dem no take further action.

Two months later, for a similar place, Mr Mulla manage to film a forced return, published by The New York Times. A group wey include women and babies dey unloaded from di back of an unmarked van and marched down a jetty onto a small boat.

Dem come transfer dem onto a Greek coastguard vessel further away from di coastline, taken out to sea, and den put onto a raft wia dem leave dem make wave carry dem comot.

We show dis footage - wey di BBC don verify - to Dimitris Baltakos, di former head of special operations wit di Greek coastguard.

During di interview, im refuse to speculate about wetin di footage show - afta im deny am earlier for our conversation, say di Greek coastguard go neva dey required to do anytin illegal. But during a break, im dey recorded telling someone out of shot for Greek:

“I neva tell dem much, right?... E dey veri clear, say no be am. No be nuclear physics. I no know why dem do am for broad daylight… e dey … obviously illegal. Na international crime.”

Greece Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy tell di BBC say di footage currently dey under investigation by di kontri independent National Transparency Authority.

One investigative journalist wey we speak to based on di island of Samos say she begin chat wit a member of di Greek special forces via di dating app Tinder. Wen im ring her from wetin im describe as a “warship”, Romy van Baarsen ask am more about im work - and wetin happun wen im forces spot a refugee boat.

Im reply say dem “drive dem back”, and say such orders na “from di minister”, adding say dem go dey punished if dem fail to stop a boat.

Greece don always deny so-called “pushbacks” say e no dey take place.

Greece na entryway into Europe for many migrants. Last year, e get 263,048 sea arrivals in Europe, wit Greece receiving 41,561 (16%) of dem. Turkey bin sign a deal wit di EU in 2016 to stop migrants and refugees crossing into Greece, but in 2020 dem tok say dem no go fit enforce am again.

We put di findings for our investigation to di Greek coastguard. Dem reply say dia staff work “tirelessly wit di utmost professionalism, a strong sense of responsibility and respect for human life and fundamental rights,” and add say dem dey “in full compliance wit di kontri international obligations”.

Dem add: “E suppose dey highlighted dat from 2015 to 2024, di Hellenic Coast Guard don rescue 250,834 refugees/migrants in 6,161 incidents at sea. Di impeccable execution of dis noble mission don dey positively recognized by di international community."

Di Greek coastguard don dey previously criticised for dia role in di biggest migrant shipwreck for di Mediterranean for a decade. More dan 600 pipo dey feared to don die afta di Adriana bin sink for Greece demarcated rescue area last June.

Greek officials don insist say di boat no dey in trouble and dey safely on im way to Italy, and so di coastguard no attempt a rescue.