Frontex preparing ‘serious incident report’ on Pylos shipwreck
The EU Border and Coast Guard Agency will investigate last week’s deadly shipwreck off the coast of Greece that killed potentially hundreds of migrants attempting to reach Italy, Politico reported on Thursday.
The agency opened a “serious incident report” on Thursday, which means that the agency’s fundamental rights officers will record potential human rights violations, an agency spokesperson told the news website.
While the process is not an investigation the report allows the agency to gather all available details surrounding the fatal incident, it said. The conclusions will then be shared with investigative bodies or be part of recommendations to other bodies, such as the European Parliament.
Only 104 survivors have been found, all men, while many survivors told the authorities that there were women and children who were allegedly kept in the hold of the ship.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) around 400 to 750 migrants were on board the fishing boat headed for Italy from Eastern Libya when it capsized for unspecified reasons in Greece’s search and rescue area.
Since the sinking, questions have been raised over the actions of the Greek coastguard and why those onboard were not rescued sooner.
