KEBABBLE Getting rid
of problem people By Fazile
Zahir
FETHIYE, Turkey - On a dark winter's
night, the boat cut its engines and went to silent
running. Crowded on every deck, the passengers
stared desperately across the water, hoping to see
lights from the shore and dreading seeing any
lights at sea.
A whisper of excitement
went around as a tiny light gleamed solidly from
the coastline. They'd made it, and their perilous
sea journey squashed into a tiny, squalid boat
with a rude and bullying
crew
was over.
The European Union and a new and
better life lay just in front of them, and the
thin light was a welcoming beacon. Men hugged
their wives and friends slapped each other on the
back, the damp cold of the night air temporarily
forgotten. The small ship swung into the remote
cove and everyone crowded excitedly to the ladder
to disembark.
About half of the men were
off the boat when cutting through the chilly clear
air came the sound they had all feared. The
searchlight swung out of the darkness as a harsh
voice barked through an amplifier and the people
on the boat, only moments ago so elated, sank back
and cowered, trying to make themselves as small as
possible in the beam's accusing glare.
The
dream was over: the Greek Coast Guard had been
waiting for them, and there would be no landing on
a quiet beach on Chios. What none of the migrants
had yet realized was that their nightmare was just
beginning.
According to statements from
the 40 passengers, the Greeks handcuffed them and
took them off the small ship and put back to sea
in their own vessel. They then turned their boat
around until the bow was pointing in the direction
of the Turkish coast. By early morning the coast
guard boat was deep enough into Turkish waters to
see the faint outline of Karaburun Point near
Izmir, and then when they were about 400 meters
away, they pushed the illegal immigrants off the
boat into the cold seawater. The only favor they
did them was to take their handcuffs off and give
the two women life-jackets.
The villagers
of Kucukbahce on the Turkish coast explained how
they were awakened at 4:30am by their dogs barking
wildly. As they wondered about the cause of the
animals' disquiet, they heard the forlorn cries of
"Allah" coming from the sea as the boat people
tried hopelessly to swim to shore.
The
reaction was immediate, and a flotilla of small
craft and fishermen set out to pull the bedraggled
Lebanese, Iranians, Palestinians, Tunisians and
Algerians from the water. Thirty-one people were
rescued, six are known to have drowned, and three
are missing and presumed drowned.
The
Greek authorities deny the accusations leveled at
them. But this is not the first case of its kind.
The Turkish government has sent evidence to Athens
of two others, one last year and one in 2004.
On July 13, 2004, a Turkish security
helicopter filmed a Greek Coast Guard boat,
Aimenko 070, as it took 35 illegal immigrants from
a Greek island and deposited them on Turkish
shores at Kusadasi. Despite repeated attempts by
the helicopter to contact the boat, there was no
response.
On May 27, 2006, at 6:20am,
Turkish land forces saw a Greek Coast Guard boat
speeding toward the Turkish coastline. Seven
hundred meters from land, the boat stopped and a
rubber dinghy was lowered hastily into the water.
Six Afghan immigrants were thrust into it. The
coast guard boat then turned tail and shot back
toward international waters. The Afghans, who were
not provided with oars, attempted to paddle to
shore using their hands and were rescued by a
Turkish helicopter.
According to Turkish
security forces, the Greeks started dumping
illegal migrants on Turkey's shores in serious
numbers in 2003 and to date have rid themselves of
5,800 problem people in this way. Although the
Turkish Foreign Ministry protests to Greece about
this unethical behavior, there are no sanction
mechanisms that Turkey can take to prevent the
illegal release of refugees in its waters.
The problem is recognized as an
international one, and the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees has personally involved
himself over the latest incident, calling both
Turkish and Greek officials. Turkey is recognized
as a key transit country on the path that human
smugglers use from Asia, Africa and the Middle
East to Europe, and illegal immigrants are
detained on a daily basis.
Early last year
Turkish police director General Gokhan Aydmner
said more than 500,000 illegal immigrants and
6,113 human traffickers had been captured in the
previous decade, and some organizations estimate
that there may be up to a million illegal
immigrants in Turkey today. The problem is so
serious that in 2003 Turkey introduced an action
plan and launched a national task force to try to
cope with the issue.
In Greece the policy
seems to be "hear no evil, see no evil", with the
Greek government claiming that it does not have an
illegal-immigrant problem.
Amnesty
International Turkey chairman Taner Kilic, a
refugee-law expert, says Greece does not have the
right to deport illegal immigrants secretly into
Turkey's territorial waters and that to do so is a
violation of refugee and human-rights laws.
Amnesty has drawn attention to Greek behavior
before, with a damning report in 2005 stating that
Greece had a discriminatory policy against asylum
seekers, immigrants and refugees.
"Asylum
procedures are not properly carried out in
Greece," Kilic said. "According to the official
figures in that country, the number of asylum
requests accepted is 1%. There is no such ratio in
the world. This shows that discrimination is an
official policy."
Turkey may give illegal
immigrants short shrift, often refusing asylum
applications and returning migrants to their home
country, but Greece, it seems, is not prepared to
give them any shrift at all.
Fazile
Zahir is of Turkish descent, born and brought
up in London. She moved to live in Turkey in 2005
and has been writing full-time since then.
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
