On the night of June 13-14, an old ship from Libya sank off the Greek coast, killing at least 82 people and hundreds missing off Greece. While the incident has raised many questions about the responsibility of the Greek authorities, Frontex told AFP on Monday June 26 that it had offered air support for the rescue. But the offer would have gone unanswered.
“Frontex offered additional air support to the Greek authorities on June 13, but received no response,” said the press service of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency based in Warsaw, interviewed by AFP. Earlier on the day of the tragedy, the Italian coordination center (MRCC) had ordered the Frontex plane to search for the fishing vessel at 8:33 GMT. The latter was spotted at 9:47 GMT, according to Frontex. “The plane watched the fishing boat for 10 minutes before being forced to return to base to refuel,” Frontex said.
Ten days ago, Frontex had already indicated that it had offered the Greeks the sending of a drone to patrol without delay above the Aegean Sea. The Greek authorities had, however, instructed to deploy this drone on another rescue in southern Crete where 80 people were in danger, according to Frontex.
The boat, an old and overloaded trawler from Libya, was shipwrecked off the coast of the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, on the most dangerous migration route in the world. The deadly shipwreck, presented as one of the most serious involving migrants in the Mediterranean, left at least 82 dead.
The World Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimate that between 400 and 750 passengers were on the trawler, including women and children. Hundreds were believed to have come from Pakistan, mainly from the provinces of Punjab and Kashmir. According to a count by the Greek authorities, among the survivors are 47 Syrians, 43 Egyptians, 12 Pakistanis and 2 Palestinians.