An Appeal to the Living Human Conscience To initiate an international investigation into the massacre of refugees on the shores of Greece

An Appeal to the Living Human Conscience

To initiate an international investigation into the massacre of refugees on the shores of Greece

We, the families of the victims who tragically lost their lives by drowning off the Greek shores, have received information from one of the survivors that this was the result of a deliberate criminal act committed by the Greek Coast Guard.

The evidence on the ground supports this accusation against Greece and its institutions, and there is no evidence to refute our claim. The Greek authorities are preventing humanitarian organizations, families of the missing, and their relatives from accessing and communicating with the survivors. This confirms our suspicion that they are trying to cover up a heinous crime. Furthermore, the Greek authorities are also preventing them from seeing the bodies of the drowned, and they are preventing journalists and activists from approaching the location where the survivors are being held and where the bodies are being kept. Moreover, there are indications that the bodies of the drowned are being transferred from the island of Kalamata to Athens in an obvious attempt to hide the evidence of this terrible crime.

The news of this heinous crime struck our grieving hearts like lightning. Our loved ones had no escape from the inevitable death at the hands of the Assad regime, Iranian militias, and Russian forces, except to meet their fate at the hands of the Greek Coast Guard, whose duty is to protect and save lives, not extinguish them treacherously.

This brutal crime comes on the same day as the International Donors Conference for Syrian Refugees in Brussels and just a few days after the agreement reached by the European Union leaders to address immigration and asylum issues within the Union. It is a dangerous indication of a new approach to dealing with the issue that contradicts the obligations of these countries under international law, human rights principles, international legitimacy, and the United Nations Charter.

We appeal to the Secretary-General of the United Nations to initiate an urgent international investigation into this matter. We also call upon the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States to send a political delegation accompanied by forensic and medical experts to closely examine the matter and submit their report to the current President of the League for the necessary actions to be taken.

Dated: June 15, 2023

Families of the Murdered Victims