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8th Dec 2023

Syria refugees prefer Libya sea-crossing to 'dangerous' Greece

  • Mahmoud is a 21-year old Syrian refugee, from Daraa. He was among 11 other Syrians rescued by the Ocean Viking vessel (Photo: Nikolaj Nielsen)

Syrian refugees are opting to flee to Europe through Libya and then the Mediterranean sea-crossings, rather than risk entering Greece.

Three young Syrians, onboard the Ocean Viking rescue vessel, told EUobserver last week that Greece and Turkey have become too dangerous and too expensive as viable options.

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Among them is 21-year old Mahmoud from Daraa, pictured above, who said his father had been killed in the war, leaving behind a wife and three children.

He is the oldest child.

"They wanted to take us to the army, but it is all death and destruction," he said, of the Syrian military.

Even though Turkey borders Syria, Mahmoud said it is now cheaper to fly directly from Damascus to Tripoli.

He arrived almost two months ago in Libya's capital city, after paying $1,700 [€1,440] for a plane ticket, he said.

Majid, a 23-year old from the same city, made similar comments.

He asked not to have his photo taken, because his father works for the state. "I left because of the war. I don't want to serve in the army," he said.

He explained that trying to enter Greece now costs some $15,000, while fleeing through Libya and by boat all the way to Germany is around $6,000.

"This one is easier and the other one (Turkey to Greece) is more dangerous. People go missing in Greece," he said.

Majid studied in Aleppo but was required to go to another district, which would have landed him in the army, he said.

Shadi is 26 and from Aleppo. He also asked not to have his photo published. He fled Syria to Lebanon when he was 18 to escape military service, he said.

"My brother is in the army, so I went to Lebanon to work because we can't have both of us in the army," he said.

But with Lebanon in chaos, the work soon dried up, and so he bought a ticket to Libya.

He said he didn't go to Turkey because it would have cost him $4,000, not including all the fees to cross into Greece.

The flight to Libya was much cheaper, and so he arrived almost three months ago, he said. "The sea is safer than in Turkey. If you go from Turkey (to Greece) it is very dangerous for people like us," he said.

Shadi said he paid $2,000 to cross by boat from Libya - before getting picked up by the Ocean Viking.

Fleeing Libya by boat through the central Mediterranean route is itself an enormous risk. Over 800 have died so far in the attempt, with many others intercepted and returned to Libyan detention centres.

But their testimonies come after the EU has helped shore up Greece's land and sea borders with Turkey.

They also come after numerous documented violent pushbacks by the Hellenic Coast Guard, which have also implicated the EU's border agency Frontex.

Both have denied any wrongdoing, despite numerous pushback cases documented by NGOs and the media. The United Nations high commissioner for refugees documented around 300 instances in the first three months of this year, spanning the Aegean Sea and Greece's land border with Turkey.

The European Commission has defended Frontex over the violations, following an internal probe that cleared the Warsaw-based agency of any wrongdoing earlier this year.

But critics say the probe was biased, alleging that Frontex helps intercept migrants for Greece to then push them back.

Parliamentary testimony

"Frontex is complicit, is a legitimiser, and a facilitator of this unlawful state policy," Iftach Cohen, a lawyer who is taking Frontex to the European Court of Justice, told the European Parliament on Wednesday (14 July).

Now the European Commission is weighing in on the matter once again, after more evidence emerged of a pushback in the Aegean Sea by the Hellenic Coast Guard.

Earlier this week, EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson warned Greece to stop the pushbacks. She described the practice as "violations of our fundamental European values."

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The NGO search-and-rescue vessel Ocean Viking was the only civilian ship at sea. In the span of just four days, it saved nearly 600 people - often in a race with an aggressive Libyan coast guard.

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Eritrean boy first to step onto Italian soil

SOS Mediterranee's Ocean Viking carried out six rescues since the start of July. After a week of high tension, the NGO was finally given a port of safety in Sicily's port of Augusta on Friday.

On board with SOS Méditerranée

Ocean Viking's largest ever rescue - witnessed first-hand

The Norwegian-flagged Ocean Viking search-and-rescue vessel saved 369 people on a boat in the middle of the night, some 80 nautical miles off Libya. EUobserver was onboard and witnessed the rescue first hand, in this exclusive by Nikolaj Nielsen.

Turkey beating Syrian refugees back to Syria, says rights NGO

Turkey has beaten and forced hundreds of recognised Syrian refugees back into Syria, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. "We wrote hundreds but I imagine it's maybe the tip of the iceberg," said one of its researchers.

Feature

Third-time lucky for one Syrian grandmother in Denmark

In Denmark, Syrian men aged 18-42 are protected against returning, as they would be conscripted into the army, while many women, children and elderly Syrian refugees are having their asylum revoked.

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