Published : 29-10-2021
Humanitarian organizations appealed to European Union diplomats to pressurize the Greek government to backtrack on the projected deportation of a group of migrants from Turkey.
On Friday, Greek coast guard said a small cargo ship carrying about 400 migrants that suffered engine problems in the eastern Mediterranean Sea off the Greek island of Crete will be towed to a safe anchorage in Greece.
But by late Friday night, no port had been designated for the ship and there were signs the incident could turn into a diplomatic tussle with neighboring Turkey, Greece's regional rival from where the ship departed.
A coast guard statement said the Turkish-flagged freighter was located by a Greek search-and-rescue vessel east of Crete, following a tip that it needed assistance.
There was no indication that anybody on it was in ill health, although it was unclear how long it had been at sea and what its food and water situation was. The nationalities of the passengers and crew were unknown.
Sn official with knowledge of the operation initially told The Associated Press. on customary condition of anonymity, that a formal request was to be made to Turkey to take back the ship and its passengers, who meanwhile were expected to be temporarily sheltered in a Greek port. He said it had left from Turkey, and therefore under a 2016 migrant agreement between Ankara and the European Union, Turkey should take it back.
A photograph posted by the coast guard showed scores of people, mostly men, standing in groups on the deck of a small, battered-looking freighter.
Humanitarian organizations appealed to European Union diplomats to pressurize the Greek government to backtrack on the projected deportation of a group of migrants from Turkey.
On Friday, Greek coast guard said a small cargo ship carrying about 400 migrants that suffered engine problems in the eastern Mediterranean Sea off the Greek island of Crete will be towed to a safe anchorage in Greece.
But by late Friday night, no port had been designated for the ship and there were signs the incident could turn into a diplomatic tussle with neighboring Turkey, Greece's regional rival from where the ship departed.
A coast guard statement said the Turkish-flagged freighter was located by a Greek search-and-rescue vessel east of Crete, following a tip that it needed assistance.
There was no indication that anybody on it was in ill health, although it was unclear how long it had been at sea and what its food and water situation was. The nationalities of the passengers and crew were unknown.
Sn official with knowledge of the operation initially told The Associated Press. on customary condition of anonymity, that a formal request was to be made to Turkey to take back the ship and its passengers, who meanwhile were expected to be temporarily sheltered in a Greek port. He said it had left from Turkey, and therefore under a 2016 migrant agreement between Ankara and the European Union, Turkey should take it back.
A photograph posted by the coast guard showed scores of people, mostly men, standing in groups on the deck of a small, battered-looking freighter.
