Greek authorities charge 2 migrants for destroying dinghy carrying 40 as rescue boat approached
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/08/2023 (1108 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities rescued 40 migrants from a sinking dinghy in the Aegean Sea on Wednesday and charged two of them with causing a shipwreck and endangering lives for allegedly scuttling the flimsy vessel as a coast guard boat approached.
A coast guard statement said all 40 people were in good health after being picked up from the inflatable dinghy off the eastern Greek island of Lesbos.
Lesbos is close to the Turkish mainland and a major entry point for people from the Middle East and Africa seeking a better life in the European Union, who pay smuggling gangs for a berth on a small boat.
The statement said one of the people on the boat slashed its rubber sides with a sharp implement “endangering the passengers” as the coast guard patrol boat approached, while the other threw the small outboard engine into the sea.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the migrants sought to destroy the vessel.
Similar incidents have been reported in recent weeks off Lesbos and other eastern Greek islands, as well as in past years, but charges against migrants for damaging the boats are very rare.
Greece’s coast guard has stepped up patrols in the eastern Aegean to deter migrant crossings, frequently preventing boats from entering Greek waters and calling Turkish authorities to pick them up and return them to Turkey.
But humanitarian groups, charities and Turkish authorities have accused Athens of also secretly and illegally deporting back to Turkey migrants who managed to reach Greek territory. The Greek government strongly denies that.
___
Follow AP’s global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration