Dozens of protesters in Crete have staged a demonstration against the potential mooring of the C-Star, a ship chartered by far-right activists aiming to prevent migrant rescues in the Mediterranean on the Greek island.
Groups of protesters made their voice heard in the town of Ieraptera to rally against the possible arrival of the ship which on Tuesday afternoon was reported to be sailing in international waters around 12 nautical miles off the Greek island of Koufonisi."I can't see the passengers themselves having any intention to sail in this area anymore; this is a place that has shown that fascism is not welcome, that has shown solidarity and hospitality to 700 migrants we helped live with dignity when they were in Ierapetra," the town's mayor Theodosios Kalantzakis told reporters.
The C-Star, which carries a Djibouti flag, is part of an operation by the far-right Generation Identity movement called Defend Europe, which outlines its function as follows: "to monitor NGOs accused of being accomplices of smugglers and the trafficking of human beings, to destroy empty smuggling boats so they are not recovered and reused by the smuggling mafias, and if necessary to save migrants in danger of drowning and making sure they get to the nearest non-European port."
Despite such a neutral-sounding mission statement, the organization has being criticized in the media for making life difficult for NGOs and for preventing national coast guards from rescuing refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean. While Crete does not have any migrant camps or extensive facilities for dealing with a potential influx of refugees, authorities on the island recently decided to begin an official integration program to accept small numbers of migrants.A deal was signed between the Greek government, Crete's development agency and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in July, paving the way to use 125 empty apartments to accommodate approximately 750 refugees.
According to the specifications of the program, the total number of refugees is expected not to exceed 2,000 by the end of 2017.The Cretan local authorities have been praised for coming forward to initiate taking on their share of responsibility for the migrant issue which continues to affect the whole country. According to government figures, approximately 20,000 people have been placed in housing under similar programs around Greece, with the aim of gradually closing down all the camps.