2023-06-19 20:23:32
Three bodies were recovered during the search for survivors of the dramatic sinking of a migrant ship off the coast of Greece which left at least 78 dead.
The three bodies “were in an advanced state of decomposition” and it was impossible to determine their sex, the Greek coast guard said on Monday June 19.
When questioned, the coastguards were however unable to confirm that the three bodies recovered were those of migrants who perished in the sinking.
Only 104 people have been rescued so far, including 47 Syrians, 43 Egyptians, 12 Pakistanis and two Palestinians, according to a June 14 tally by Greek authorities.
Many relatives of migrants who were on board the wrecked boat have traveled to Greece in recent days in search of news of the victims.
Read also “My tears keep flowing”: the concern of families after the deadly shipwreck in Greece
A right-wing candidate expelled for racist remarks
A right-wing candidate for the next legislative elections was expelled Friday evening from his party, New Democracy (ND of the former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis) because of his remarks deemed racist after this shipwreck off Pylos (south).
While deploring the “tragic” loss of migrants in the waters of the Mediterranean, including “children”, the candidate for deputy under the label ND Spilios Kriketos said Thursday that Greece “cannot tolerate more migrants” , accusing most of them of stealing, in an interview on YouTube channel Kontra.
These remarks caused an outcry. The main left-wing opposition party, Syriza, called them “a racist recital” and asked the ND to exclude Spilios Kriketos.
Experts and NGOs have questioned the Greek coast guard which should have intervened earlier and rescued the ship, according to them.
Read also Shipwreck in Greece: the boat was drifting, unlike the coastguard version
Media and NGOs have repeatedly accused Greece of carrying out “illegal” pushbacks of migrants in the Aegean Sea, criticisms however rejected by the government.
For the past four years, outgoing Prime Minister and New Democracy (ND) leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has led a security crackdown, marked by border lockdowns, to fight what he sees as an “invasion” of migrants from neighboring Turkey, and a reinforcement of the police force.
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