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At least 15 migrants are dead after an inflatable migrant boat traveling without navigation lights collided with a Greek patrol boat off the coast of Chios in the Aegean Sea. Searches were ongoing on Wednesday morning, stated the Greek coast guard.

Fifteen migrants have died following a collision between their boat and a Greek coast guard patrol boat. Searches are continuing for any additional migrants who may be missing, stated the Greek coast Guard in a press release on Wednesday (February 4).

On Tuesday evening (February 3), at around 9 pm local time, according to the press release, "an inflatable patrol boat from the Hellenic Coast Guard, which was carrying out a scheduled patrol, spotted an inflatable speedboat, with migrants on board."

The migrant boat was "moving without navigation lights towards the eastern coast of Chios." When the coast guard asked them to stop, using lights and sound, the pilot of the migrant boat "did not comply." Instead, "he reversed course and the migrant boat collided with the Greek coast guard on the starboard (right) side," according to the press release.

Reports on the BBC stated that the Greek authorities claimed the speedboat had been making dangerous maneuvers and that a pursuit had been underway prior to the crash.

Dead and missing

The severity of the impact, stated the coast guard, meant that the migrant boat capsized and sank, resulting in all the migrants falling into the sea. A search and rescue operation was immediately launched, including four Greek coast guard patrol boats, a private boat with private divers on board and two air force helicopters. Reports on Reuters and AP suggest that most of the migrants on board were from Afghanistan, with one person reportedly from Morocco.

Another picture supplied by the Greek coast guard highlights the starboard side of the patrol boat where the collision occurred | Source: Greek Coast Guard www.hcg.gr

A total of 25 migrants, seven men, seven women and 11 minors were eventually picked up by the search and rescue team. Those injured were transported to hospitals in the port. Fourteen bodies were pulled from the water dead (11 men and three women), and subsequently, another woman died from her injuries in hospital, bringing the death toll to 15 so far.

Among those injured, reported the Greek state broadcaster ERT, are seven children and a pregnant woman, as well as the two coast guard officers.

Searches continue, stated the Greek coast guard on Wednesday morning. Two members of the coast guard team were also hospitalized after the collision; one male has been discharged, and a woman remains hospitalized for further examinations.

'Dangerous maneuvers'

The island of Chios lies just a few miles off the coast of Turkey and has been one of the Greek islands that has seen regular arrivals from Turkey over the years.

The nationality of those on board is not yet clear. Witnesses told reporters they believed around 30 to 35 people were on board the boat.

The Greek coast guard regularly reports on "dangerous maneuvers" of migrant boat pilots in Greek waters and deaths as a result of those actions. It is not uncommon that people fall into the sea, or that the boat crashes on rocks or beaches, for example.

Over the years, however, some organizations have accused the Greek authorities of carrying out actions that have brought about some of these deaths. This is a charge the Greek government and coast guard repeatedly deny.

File photo: The Greek Coast Guard often reports that the pilots of migrant boats do not stop when warned to with lights and sound techniques, often resulting in high speed chases at sea | Photo: Hellenic Coast Guard www.hcg.gr

In 2014, 12 migrants were reported to have died after contact with the coast guard off the Greek island of Farmakonisi. Sixteen survivors were brought to the island. The German pro-migrant campaign organization, Pro Asyl, wrote about this case in October 2022, when Greece was brought before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to answer to allegations that its actions may have caused the death of these 12 migrants.

'The Farmakonisi case'

In this particular case, the Greek coast guard is accused of having attempted to tow the boat carrying the migrants back into Turkish waters at high speed. This resulted in the boat tipping over and the migrants falling into the water.

In July 2014, this was denied by the Greek coast guard, who said that pushbacks into Turkish waters didn’t exist. Subsequently, several investigations by NGOs and broadcasters, relying on survivor testimony, statements from the Turkish coast guard and video and photo evidence, suggest that they did.

Map showing the location of Farmakonisi, a small Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, close to Turkey | Screenshot: Google Maps

Initially in this case, a Syrian migrant who was on board the ship was tried and sentenced to 145 years in jail in Greece for causing death. His sentence was then lifted in June 2017 when a Greek court found the Greek coast guard may have been responsible for their deaths.

In July 2022, the ECJ did not find evidence that Greece had carried out puhbacks but did say that Greece had infringed the right to life and had acted inhumanely.

Pylos

In June 2023, many also raised allegations against the Greek coast guard for its involvement in the shipwreck of the Adriana fishing trawler off the coast of Pylos, in which more than 600 migrants lost their lives. Survivors and investigators said that the coast guard's attempts to tow the boat to shore caused it to capsize. It is an accusation that the Greek authorities have repeatedly denied.

In 2024, the BBC published a report looking at a series of different incidents they allege took place between 2020 and 2023, in which they believe actions carried out by Greek authorities may have resulted in the deaths of at least 43 migrants.

Graves for the Pylos victims. | Photo: ICRC

The BBC stated in their investigation that many of their sources were "local media, NGOs and the Turkish coast guard." The Turkish coast guard regularly accuses the Greek coast guard of carrying out pushbacks and publishes photos of the migrants it says it has picked up from life rafts floating in Turkish waters after being set to sea in Greek waters.

Thrown into the sea?

Many survivor accounts talk about "masked men" or people "dressed in black" so it is sometimes difficult to identify from where these actors might come and whether they are working directly for the Greek authorities, as claimed. However, the BBC states it corroborated the accounts in at least four cases. In some of the incidents it highlighted, migrants told the BBC they were thrown directly into the sea by the Greek authorities.

File photo: The Turkish Coast Guard accuses the Greek authorities of pushing back these migrants from Greek waters. Turkish authorities said they found two groups of 21 in total drifting in life rafts like these | Source: Turkish Coast Guard Press Office

When the BBC put their findings to the Greek coast guard in 2024, they were told that staff at the organization "work tirelessly with the utmost professionalism, a strong sense of responsibility and respect for human life and fundamental rights." They added that they were in "full compliance with the country’s international obligations."

Between 2015 and 2024, the Hellenic coast guard said it had rescued 250,834 migrants from 6,161 incidents at sea.