We translate into Italian Alarm Phone's statement on the shipwreck of 14 June 2023.

A large fishing boat has capsized off the coast of Greece. We fear that hundreds of people may have drowned. Yesterday, 13 June 2023, at 16:53 CEST, we alerted the Greek coastguard to the presence of this boat in distress after people had called us for help. The Greek authorities, and apparently the Italian and Maltese authorities, had been alerted several hours earlier. The Greek and other European authorities were therefore well aware of the situation of this overcrowded and unseaworthy vessel. No rescue operation was launched. In the early hours of today, 14 June 2023, the boat sank.

In the hours following this maritime disaster, the Greek coastguard began to seek justifications for the failure to rescue, claiming that the people in distress did not want to be rescued by Greece.

We wonder why people at sea are so afraid to meet the Greek authorities.

Migrants know that thousands have been attacked, beaten and abandoned at sea by the Greek authorities. They know that an encounter with the Greek coastguard, police or border guards often means violence and suffering. As a result of systematic rejections, boats try to avoid Greece, taking much longer routes and risking their lives at sea.

At Alarm Phone, we have documented countless cases of rejections and even overcrowded boats sinking as they took longer routes to avoid the Greek authorities. One of the most recent examples is that of a vulnerable boat that was turned back 524 km into Turkish waters, south of Methoni, on 22 May. Some of the people involved are still stranded in Turkey.

In addition, Alarm Phone documented how the lǝ passengersǝ of another large boat, also departing from Tobruk, Libya, wereǝ interceptedǝ within the Maltese search and rescue zone and returnedǝ to Libya on 23 May 2023, where they were detainedǝ. People on the move know that they need to get as far away from the Greek coast as possible to increase their chances of avoiding direct or proxy refoulement.

After the shipwreck of the fishing boat, the Greek authorities were quick to publicly justify their failure to rescue. The reality is that they had been alerted many hours before the capsize and had been informed by several sources that it was a vessel in distress. Greek coastguard vessels and a Frontex aircraft were reportedly on the scene. The European authorities could have launched an appropriate rescue operation immediately. They failed to do so because the desire to prevent arrivals outweighed the need to save hundreds of lives.

Stop blaming people on the move for trying to escape your violence!

Stop blaming people on the move for their own deaths!

Stop the rejections, stop the deaths at sea, break down the European borders!

Chronological reconstruction of the case by Alarm Phone - 13/14 June 2023

On the morning of 13 June, at 9:35 a.m. CEST, Nawal Soufi tweeted a warning about a large boat in distress with an estimated 750 people on board. Over the next few hours, Nawal Soufi provides more information, including the boat's GPS position and the fact that authorities in Italy, Greece and Malta have been alerted.

2:17 p.m. CEST: Alarm Phone receives the first call from the boat in distress. Communication with the distressed is complex. They claim they will not survive the night and are in grave danger. Alarm Phone tries to get their GPS coordinates to alert the authorities, but the call goes dead. We try to contact them again.

2:30 p.m. CEST: The people in danger call again and tell Alarm Phone that they will send their location. They do not.

3:52 p.m. CEST: The people in distress have called Alarm Phone twice, but no information has been received.

4:04 p.m. CEST: We are speaking to a distressed person again. They say they will send their GPS location.

4:13 p.m. CEST: We receive the location of the people in distress: N 36 15, 21 02. We try to get more information but are unable to contact them.

4:53 p.m CEST: We alert the Greek authorities by email, including Frontex and UNHCR Greece.

5:13 p.m CEST: We re-establish contact with the people in danger. We hear "hello, hello", then the line goes dead. We try to re-establish contact, but can't.

5:14 p.m. CEST: We receive a call from the boat in distress, but cannot make out anything.

5:20 p.m. CEST: We talk to the boat in distress and they tell us that the boat is not moving. They say, "The captain has left in a small boat. Please find a solution". They say they need food and water.

5:34 p.m. CEST: We receive another call from the boat in distress and their updated position: 36 18, 21 04 - very close to the previous one. They say the boat is overcrowded and rocking dangerously.

6:00 p.m. CEST: We call the company of the merchant vessel "Lucky Sailor" and inform them of the boat in distress. They claim that they will only act under the command of the Greek Coast Guard.

Over the next few hours, Alarm Phone tries to re-establish contact with the vessel in distress, but either the phone has no reception or the communication is incomprehensible.

8:05 p.m. CEST: Alarm Phone is informed by people in distress that they have received water from the freighter Lucky Sailor and are in contact with the 'police'. Alarm Phone also notes the presence of a second merchant ship, the Faithful Warrior, in close proximity to the Lucky Sailor.

Over the next few hours, Alarm Phone attempts to re-establish contact with the people in distress, but either the phone has no reception or the communication is incomprehensible.

00:46 a.m. CEST on 14/06/2023: Last contact with the boat in distress. All we hear is "Hello my friend". .... The vessel you sent is...". The call is cut off.