The death of 15 Afghan and Moroccan migrants after a speedboat carrying them collided with a Greek coastguard vessel has been presented by Greek authorities as an open and shut case.
A statement issued late on Tuesday blamed smugglers for failing to comply with the [Hellenic] Coast Guard's visual and audible signals to turn their boat around. It said the migrant boat was making dangerous manoeuvres before veering into a patrol vessel, off the Chios Strait. The message was that this caused the deaths and the injuries of 24 others who were trying to reach European soil.
But experience tells us to be wary of such instant and unequivocal explanations. In the summer of 2023, I arrived in the southern Greek port city of Kalamata on the day more than 650 migrants were feared to have drowned. An official Greek narrative had already been established that this was a tragedy caused by criminal gangs cramming too many people into an unseaworthy fishing boat. Survivors later told the BBC that coastguards had caused the migrant boat to capsize following a botched attempt to tow it.
As we returned to Greece to investigate over the following months, more contradictions appeared in the official account. Nearly three years on, four senior figures in the Greek coastguard, including its current commander, are among 21 officers now facing criminal prosecution for negligent manslaughter over what was the worst loss of life in the Mediterranean Sea for a decade.
In regards to Tuesday's fatal incident near Chios, much of the Greek media has been amplifying the story that the migrant speedboat was manoeuvring dangerously and would not stop. Yet, there has been no testimony from survivors to back up or question that account, and a lack of independent, third-party evidence supporting the scenario where the packed migrants boat deliberately hit the specialist military speedboat.
Following the latest fatal crossing, opposition politicians have condemned the Greek coastguard, with calls from public figures emphasizing that Greek waters must not be allowed to become a graveyard for migrants.
As details emerge, it becomes increasingly clear that this latest incident will not be easily unravelled, and much about it remains shrouded in uncertainty, signaling the need for thorough investigations into Greece's handling of migrant affairs.
