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Two Romanian ships belonging to the Border Police, which participate in patrol missions on the Greek-Turkish border within the European mission FRONTEX, are allegedly involved in operations that violate international law. One of them was filmed while apparently maneuvering a boat with immigrants back to sea, instead of helping them.
Frontex, the European agency for the surveillance of external borders, is involved in several incidents of rejection of ships with asylum seekers crossing the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece.
The investigation, using open sources, testimonies, videos and photographs, was conducted by the Bellingcat investigative journalism network, in collaboration with Der Spiegel, Lighthouse Reports, ARD and TV Asahi (from Japan).
The investigations “show for the first time that Frontex officials are aware of the illegal practices of the Greek Coast Guard and, in part, are themselves involved in denials.” Mirror. Journalists claim they have documented six cases since April in the Aegean Sea in which Frontex teams at least witnessed without reacting to the attack by Turkish ships with refugees in Greek waters, an illegal practice, writes AFP, taken over by Agerpres.
Compromising images with a Romanian ship
The events of which the Romanian ships are accused took place in June and August of this year, in the Aegean Sea. Thus, Frontex personnel, including those on two Romanian ships patrolling at the time, appear to be directly involved in maneuvers to deter asylum seekers from reaching shore (the so-called “Illegal returns”). Furthermore, Romanians appear to refuse to save people from drifting boats and intentionally endanger their lives through dangerous maneuvers.
According to a testimony, the Romanian ship MAY 1102 he was only a few hundred meters from a boat with refugees, but decided to do nothing, which openly contradicts the purpose of the European agency’s mission. The incident was allegedly filmed by Turkish border guards and reported by a German NATO ship to the Berlin government, but the report was never made public.
There is another video in which the ship can be identified. MAY 1103, a ship that also belongs to the Romanian border police. According to the images, the ship blocks a ship with asylum seekers to reach the Greek coast.
Romanian staff communicate with those on the ship but do not offer any assistance, as required by international law in such situations.
The ship then intentionally increases its speed as the ship drifts past, a maneuver that creates waves and endangers the lives of those on board, after which they withdraw from the scene, leaving the Greek border guards to escape. deal with the situation.
Border Police Reaction
Radio Free Europe, which reports extensively on this international investigation, contacted the Border Police to ask for a reaction. The Border Police confirmed that Romania had two ships present in the area during this period, but limited itself to highlighting the “recognition of high European officials” enjoyed by Romanian crews, without commenting on allegations of violations of international law.
The Border Police declined to mention whether the two incidents involving the Romanian ships were reported in Bucharest or whether there was an internal investigation into the matter, Free Europe claims.
Frontex mission reaction
In turn, the Frontex mission did not pronounce on the cases reported by journalists, it mentions MirrorBut it said its agents operate under a human rights code of conduct and abide by the ban on rejecting migrant boats.
Without mentioning the press investigation, Frontex announced on Friday evening on its Twitter account that it is “in contact with the Greek authorities regarding incidents at sea in recent months” and announced that Athens has opened “an internal investigation. “. Frontex acts “in accordance with fundamental rights and international law,” the agency said on Twitter.
The conservative Greek government has always rejected accusations of having rejected migrant boats from the borders of Greece, accusations made over time by various NGOs.
Read also: Euronews: Romanian border guards charged with beating, electrocuting or setting fire to refugees arriving at the border
Editor: Luana Pavaluca
