Repromotions / Creepy investigation – The “secret prisons” on ships of the Greece-Italy line
Refugees and migrants found in Italian ports without papers are irregularly sent back to Greece in detention on liners
Illegal refugee returns and immigrants even childrenbetween Italy and Greece with ships her line reveals research by wearesolomon.com.
Specifically, according to a publication of the above journalistic investigative teamships of the line which operate the route between the two countries, have illegal “prisons”. In them, the Italian authorities refugees are piling up and Immigrants who tried to reach, from Greece, the neighboring country.
While tourists on ferries sip on their sunsets, people – including children – are chained and locked below decks in dark places@LHreports & Partners has investigated illegal returns of refugees from Italy to Greece pic.twitter.com/dcRwUxsx5y
— Lighthouse Reports (@LHreports) January 18, 2023
According to the practice of the Italian authorities, immigrants are not allowed to apply for asylum and after they are detained illegally at the port where they are subsequently located tthey send them back to Greece illegally.
“They are forced to sign documents in language that is not they understand, often to answer questions without an interpreter. Their are removed the mobilethe personally objectsthe zone and shoes. In some cases they bond with handcuffs. Usually, they don’t have any information about what’s going on” says the same publication which is part of it cross-border research coordinated by Lighthouse Reports in collaboration with German television (ARD Monitor), Swiss television (SRF), the international network Al Jazeera and the Italian newspaper Domani.
The old toilets that became the “prison”
Citing testimonies of people who lived through the horror, the investigation presents the prisons it notes exist on its ships. Attica Group. About the ship Asterion IIthe “prison” covered with photos of popular summer resorts in Greece. Practically, without realizing it, every passenger going up the escalators from the garage passes through it in his presence.
“There’s one inside space with three toilets where is no longer in useand this is the place where with were holdingRamin told wearesolomon, adding that “it smelled too bad, you understand it’s a toilet.’
A small room with a broken toilet and ceiling on the 7th floor of Asterion II has been turned into a makeshift prison
Refugees wrote their names and dates of detention on the wall, while tourists enjoyed hot meals a few meters away pic.twitter.com/9MI1gTS0Hl
— Lighthouse Reports (@LHreports) January 18, 2023
For asylum seekers there are two layers. Ramin said it was his full of insects, which he killed. there is one more broken pelviswhile the employee testimonials and victims also mention a wash basin, which we were also able to record.
According to the same publication, Mahdi recognized the member of crew where his he was bringing foodfrom photo.
The “prisons” of Superfast I and Superfast II
Testimonies of victims certify that the same practical application in other ships companies that run the routes between the ports of Greece (Patra, Igoumenitsa) and Italy (Bari, Ancona, Brindisi, Venice).
Specifically, as reported by the investigative journalists, they spotted and they recorded visually for the first time the “prisons” on two other of its ships Fastestthe Superfast I and Superfast II.
On board the Superfast I, the refugees are locked in a metal box with a single cardboard and foil
Some left messages on the walls, while others appear to have tried to escape by climbing the walls pic.twitter.com/pYr58QOwtQ
— Lighthouse Reports (@LHreports) January 18, 2023
In the following illustration, according to the relevant report, the point where the “prisons” of each ship are located is shown.
Agreement between Italy and Greece
It is worth noting that the illegal they re-promotions are based on a bilateral agreement of “re-admission” between Rome and Athens, which is located in strength from 1999, which however has not been validated from Italian Parliament.
In a written reply, the Greek Coast Guard cited the following steps, confirming the findings of the investigation: “In the case of readmissions of immigrants from Italy to Greece, the Italian authorities hand over the immigrants, who left Greece illegally, to the master of the E/G-O/G ship in ship. that were detected. After the respective ship docks at the port of Patras or Igoumenitsa, the master hands them over to officers of the LS-EL.AKT, who inform the local Prosecutor’s Office. Afterwards, the above officials hand over the immigrants to EL.AS”.
According to data of the Greek Port Authority last two years they were re-promoted from Italy to Greece at least 231 people: 57 immigrants to Abbess and 17 in Patras the 2022. The 2021 115 immigrants at its port Igoumenitsa and 42 in its port Patras.
The numbers these should be taken into account reservationas often the victims argue that were re-promoted without to sign each document.
It is worth noting that an agreement between the two states states that Italy can return to Greece immigrants who have arrived from Greece. However, according to wearesolomon, experts point out that he doesn’t have “no legal basis” and cannot be applied to those seeking asylum, as it constitutes a violation of the right to liberty and the human rights union (ECHR).
The same publication mentions their characteristics reasons for which they are characterized illegal the re-promotions immigrants between the two states.
What Attica Group says
According to wearesolomon.com Attica Group categorically denied how of this kind practices noted on her ship, without offering individual details. In the same email message, the group “advised” the research team not to publish these “false claims”.
“If despite these tools you publish such a report, which we again advise you to avoid, you We call to ensure first that you will not connect it in any way, expressly or impliedly, with the Attica Group and/or its member company and its vessels,” concluded the reply, in which the group reserved for “every right” of.