Sanaa: A Yemeni migrant family who tried to cross into Europe via Greece was thrown into the cold Mediterranean sea by Greek coast guard units, Anadolu News Agency reported.
On December 2021, three members of the family: a couple — Mahgdi Kalla and Fatima Mahmud, and their cousin, Mucahed Abduljavad, left Yemen and travelled to Turkey’s Aegean province of Izmir using an illegal route.
On January 30, 2022, they boarded a rubber boat carrying a group of Yemeni asylum seekers and crossed to the Greek island of Chios.
The Greek coast guard caught them, put them on a boat, and then threw Kalla, Abduljavad and another Yemeni named Mahad Adinare into Turkish territorial waters.
“They put us on a small boat. There were also Greek soldiers with us. After twenty minutes of sailing, they removed our handcuffs. We had child-sized life jackets on us that we could not fit in. They threw us into the water. We had told the Greek soldiers we could not swim. They threw us into the sea and left,” Kalla told Anadolu.
As per the media reports, Kalla and Adinare managed to make it to the island of Karaada off Muğla, Turkey, but Abduljavad went missing.
Turkish coast guard units carried out first aid for the survivors and began a search operation for Abduljavad.
Turkey and Greece have been major transit points for asylum seekers aiming to cross into Europe to start a new life, especially those fleeing war and persecution.
Turkey and human rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece’s illegal practices of pushing back asylum seekers, saying they violate humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants, including women and children.
On February 3, at least 19 irregular migrants were found frozen to death near the Greek border in Turkey after being expelled by Greek forces.
