Greece blames smugglers for immigrant deaths

A statement issued late Tuesday blamed “smugglers” for “disrespecting the visual and obedient regional [Helene] ” to return their ship, the BBC reported.

She said the immigrant ship was making dangerous maneuvers before entering a patrol ship near the Chios Strait. The message was that this caused the deaths and injuries of 24 others who were trying to reach European soil.

But experience shows us to be careful about such immediate and clear explanations.

In the summer of 2023, I arrived at the southern Greek port city of Kalamata on the day when more than 650 migrants were suspected of drowning.

Already, an official Greek account had been made that this was a tragedy caused by criminal gangs that surrounded many on an inappropriate fishing ship.

We were told that nothing could be done to save those on board, including about 100 women and children traveling to the barn of Adriana.

But survivors later told the BBC that coastal guards had caused the collapse of the ship with immigrants after a failed attempt to withdraw it.

As we returned to Greece to investigate over the following months, more and more contradictions appeared in the official confession.

Almost three years later, four top figures in the Greek coastal guard, including its current commander, are among the 21 officers who now face prosecution for unlawful murder for what was the biggest loss of lives in the Mediterranean Sea for a decade.