Condemning Frontex findings on the responsibility of the Greek authorities for the deadly shipwreck off Lesvos in April 2025
The dangerous manoeuvres carried out by the Hellenic Coast Guard put refugees’ lives at risk. Systematic violations in the context of deterrence operations.
The Serious Incident Report (SIR) of the Fundamental Rights Office of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) concerning the deadly shipwreck of 3 April 2025 off Lesvos, issued on 21 April 2026 and sent, upon request, to the lawyers representing the victims, concludes that the dangerous manoeuvres carried out by the Hellenic Coast Guard clearly put at risk the lives of the refugees on board the inflatable boat, thereby violating their right to life. It also highlights the systematic nature of such violations, noting in particular that the Hellenic Coast Guard has been implicated in several Serious Incident Reports (SIRs). The report further states that the Coast Guard has been recorded on video carrying out manoeuvres around refugee boats with the aim of deterrence.
We recall that, on 3 April 2025, eight people lost their lives in a shipwreck that occurred when a boat carrying refugees approaching Lesvos was intercepted by the Hellenic Coast Guard near the shore off Skala Sikamnias. According to testimonies by survivors, while the boat was close to Lesvos, within Greek territorial waters, a Coast Guard vessel approached them. The passengers cried out for help; however, according to their testimonies, Coast Guard officers with covered faces shouted “Go back Turkey” at them, while using poles against them. At the same time, the Coast Guard vessel began circling around their inflatable boat, creating large waves which, combined with the rough sea conditions, violently destabilised the vessel. The boat could not withstand the impact: its bottom detached and everyone on board was thrown into the sea. The tragic outcome was seven confirmed deaths and one child who remains missing to this day.
On 5 March 2026, in an important step towards justice, H.M., a young Afghan father and survivor of the shipwreck, was acquitted by the Three-Member Court of Appeal for Felonies of the North Aegean of the serious charges brought against him in connection with the shipwreck: the unauthorised transportation of third-country nationals while endangering their lives and causing death; unlawful entry into the country; causing a shipwreck through negligence; and multiple counts of manslaughter through negligence.
According to survivors’ testimonies, as well as the evidence in the case file, on 3 April 2025, instead of carrying out a rescue operation, the Hellenic Coast Guard conducted a border protection operation, once again violating the right to life of those on board. The Coast Guard vessel carried out dangerous manoeuvres, failed to officially report the presence of the refugee boat, and did not immediately initiate a search and rescue operation, nor deploy appropriate rescue means. It also lacked adequate rescue equipment and life jackets. Survivors of the shipwreck, with the support of lawyers from RSA (Refugee Support Aegean) and the Legal Centre Lesvos (LCL), filed a criminal complaint against the responsible officers of the Hellenic Coast Guard for dangerous manoeuvres and for violations of their duty to rescue those on board after the refugee boat had been detected by the Coast Guard.
To date, however, no information has been provided regarding accountability for these violations and the resulting deaths.
This Report by the Frontex Fundamental Rights Office is the first publicly disclosed investigation confirming the allegations made in the survivors’ criminal complaint concerning the responsibility of the Coast Guard authorities, specifically regarding criminal acts and omissions by the Greek Coast Guard authorities during their operations at sea, which resulted in the deaths of eight people near Lesvos. Although the Investigation wrongly limits its examination of failures to comply with search and rescue obligations to the period after the boat had already capsized, it nevertheless focuses on, and unequivocally concludes that the dangerous manoeuvres carried out by the crew of the Coast Guard vessel clearly violated the refugees’ right to life by placing their lives at risk. At the same time, it documents the systematic nature of violations committed by the Coast Guard in the context of deterrence operations, as the incident is not considered an isolated case.
More specifically, the Report concludes considering:
“[…] the version of events presented by the migrants interviewed by Frontex, as truthful […] The high level of consistency among [their accounts] when they describe the circling manoeuvres that preceded the collapse of the boat’s bottom, is therefore less likely to be considered fabricated or accidental […]”
“[…] that the Hellenic Coast Guard has been alleged in a number of SIRs, for example SIR 10463/2024, and even shown on video materials, to deploy circling manoeuvres to deter migrant boats. As such, the Office believes the CBV [the Hellenic Coast Guard vessel] has indeed circled around the migrant boat, at close distance, two times, prior to its sinking. The Office cannot determine exactly to what extent the shipwreck was caused by these manoeuvres or whether they had no effect on the actual sinking. It is convinced, however, that such manoeuvres, as described by the migrants, and the waves they cause/increase, do have the potential to damage a fragile migrant boat, and as such to endanger the lives of people in it. As such, the Fundamental Rights Office considers that the dangerous manoeuvres performed by the crew of [the] CPB likely violated the migrants’ right to life, by putting their lives in danger.”
Accountability for those responsible and justice for the victims and survivors remain an urgent and overriding demand.
