{"id":27132,"date":"2026-07-03T12:01:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T09:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/?p=27132"},"modified":"2026-07-03T12:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T09:01:10","slug":"three-years-after-the-shipwreck-in-pylos-the-burden-of-survival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/three-years-after-the-shipwreck-in-pylos-the-burden-of-survival\/","title":{"rendered":"Three years after the shipwreck in Pylos: The burden of survival"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Three years after the shipwreck in Pylos: The burden of survival<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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A survivor of the Pylos shipwreck meets a relative.
Kalamata, June 2023
Photo: Maria Sidiropoulou<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Three years ago, on the night of June 13, 2023, more than 600 people drowned off the coast of the Greek city of Pylos while the coast guard watched for 15 hours and 30 minutes, having refused to rescue them for hours. We spoke with three survivors who now live in Germany. What remains of a night that changed their lives forever?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Firas*, Anwar*, and Karam* are among only 104 men who survived the Pylos shipwreck. All three are from Syria, now live in Germany, and are supported by <\/span>PRO ASYL<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Firas has been granted subsidiary protection. However, since the federal government of Germany suspended family reunification last year, he remains separated from his wife and three children. Anwar is still in the asylum process nearly three years after his arrival in Germany. Karam\u2019s asylum application was recently rejected, and he faces the threat of deportation to Syria.<\/span><\/p>

All three, along with numerous other survivors in Greece, have filed criminal complaints against the Greek coast guard.<\/span><\/p>

The responsible public prosecutor\u2019s office has since brought charges of serious crimes against 21 members of the coast guard – including high-ranking officers and two former heads of the coast guard. At least twenty of the sixty-two survivors involved in the criminal proceedings are represented by lawyers from RSA (Refugee Support Aegean).<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The conversation with Firas*, Anwar* and Karam* was conducted by Agnes Lisa Wegner for PRO ASYL and was first published in German on the <\/span><\/i>PRO ASYL website<\/span><\/i><\/a> on 12 June 2026, on the occasion of the third anniversary of the Pylos shipwreck.<\/span><\/i><\/p>

RSA published, on the occasion of the anniversary, an <\/span><\/i>updated timeline<\/span><\/i><\/a> of developments from the day of the shipwreck to the present. The timeline documents the findings of independent investigations, the findings and conclusions of institutional bodies, the testimonies and current legal status of the survivors, and the progress of the ongoing criminal proceedings.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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It has now been three years since the disaster you survived. How are you holding up these days?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Firas:<\/strong><\/span> The memory is always the same. Whether it\u2019s January, February, or any other month. I keep seeing it all again and again. The journey from Syria to Egypt, then that terrible disaster. But in June, it\u2019s especially hard.<\/p>

Anwar: <\/span><\/strong>I also feel that it gets more intense as the day approaches. I have very dark thoughts on that day. You can\u2019t forget those experiences.<\/p>

Karam:<\/strong><\/span> For me, the anniversary doesn\u2019t matter much, because I go through the same thing on the 14th of every month. I don\u2019t like the number 14 anymore. Whenever I see a 14 somewhere, I feel terrible.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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When we talk about this disaster that\u2019s behind you\u2026<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Firas:<\/strong><\/span> It\u2019s not behind me! It\u2019s always with me. I carry it inside me all the time. Whenever I\u2019m alone, those images and sounds come back. Both during the day and at night. I always try to go out and not stay alone.<\/p>

Anwar:<\/strong><\/span> I was with some friends a few days ago. One of them was curious and asked me how this disaster happened. And then I started telling the story. It was a shock to me that the pain is still the same. I just wanted to cry.<\/p>

Karam:<\/strong> <\/span>I\u2019m speechless time and again. Even when I was at the psychologist\u2019s, I couldn\u2019t really express my feelings. I can\u2019t find the words. There\u2019s a lot inside me, but I can\u2019t put it into words. And then, when I talk about it, I could go on for hours about something that only lasted a few seconds.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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You were on the ship, the Adriana, for five days. What stands out most clearly in your memory?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Karam:<\/strong><\/span> I remember the many men when I think of that day. I spent five days with them on that ship. Friends, cousins\u2026 And they all died, right before my eyes. When the ship capsized, it pulled me down with it, so that at first I couldn\u2019t resurface. With every mouthful of water that went into my mouth, I thought, \u201cNow I\u2019m going to die!\u201d Until I finally took a deep breath and managed to stay above the surface.<\/p>

And then I saw all the dead bodies. 600 people. It was such a shock that I thought I\u2019d rather have died myself. I didn\u2019t see people anymore, just corpses. They were so close. I saw their faces and looked for my friends in those faces. But it was already too dark to recognize them properly. Like everyone else, I screamed as loud as I could. Again and again, someone pulled me down. That\u2019s why I had to swim as far away from the others as possible.<\/p>

Anwar:<\/strong> <\/span>I always think of a child. [He smiles and pauses.] You\u2019ll notice that I smile now and then while I\u2019m telling this story. I do that so I don\u2019t cry. For the first two years, I cried every time I talked about it: When the ship capsized, the water pressure threw me upward\u2014that helped me a lot. I was able to hold on to something. That\u2019s when I saw a child, about ten years old, a boy. He called out to me, begging me to help him. Since I couldn\u2019t reach him, I took off my sweater and threw it to him so I could pull him closer. And we made it; he came next to me. At that moment, the ship suddenly sank. I lost the boy. I looked for him but couldn\u2019t find him. Later, in the small coast guard lifeboat, I kept looking for him. I didn\u2019t see him anymore. It was clear to me that he had died.<\/p>

Karam:<\/strong> <\/span>I experienced something similar. A child died near me. He was maybe 12 or 13 years old and was screaming very loudly. I couldn\u2019t help him because my shoulder was severely injured. I knew the child had died when the water started foaming\u2014and his voice suddenly fell silent.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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How do you live with these memories?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Anwar:<\/strong> <\/span>At first, I felt guilty. I always thought I hadn\u2019t tried hard enough. Shouldn\u2019t I have been able to do it? Couldn\u2019t I have saved the boy? And why did I, of all people, survive?<\/p>

Firas:<\/strong><\/span> I hear this all the time: \u201cWhy did he survive while the other one died?\u201d My aunt and everyone she knows have cut off contact with me because her son died on the journey. They blame me. That makes it even worse for me. Sometimes I think they\u2019re right. But in truth, I couldn\u2019t have changed it. It was the sea.<\/p>

Karam:<\/strong><\/span> That\u2019s the worst part: The 600 people who died\u2014that\u2019s not just a number. Those are 600 stories. Each of them left behind people who lost someone.<\/p>

Anwar:<\/strong><\/span> This is how I see it: I\u2019m very grateful to God because he saved me that day, while many others died. I always try, especially on this day, to talk to people who want to embark on this journey. To tell them how dangerous it is and that they should not do it. I wasn\u2019t aware of it back then: that I was putting my life in danger.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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That sounds like a mission?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Anwar: <\/strong><\/span>Yes, absolutely. My God didn\u2019t save me so I could enjoy life, but so that others could learn from me\u2014on all sides.
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In Greece, legal proceedings are underway against 21 Greek coast guard officers, some of whom are high-ranking. Without going into too much detail, what do you hope to achieve through the justice system?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Karam:<\/strong><\/span> We really hope they\u2019ll be punished. You have to understand: they were right next to us the whole time. But we pulled unconscious people out of the water, laid them on the overturned boat, and tried to help them. We saved them. They just turned on their lights and watched us. And that\u2019s when I thought: \u201cThis is the end\u2014. If they don\u2019t save us now, they won\u2019t do it in an hour either.\u201d Did they want to wait until as many of us as possible were dead?<\/p>

Firas:<\/strong><\/span> And it wasn\u2019t just the Greek coast guard. We can\u2019t blame them alone. Other organizations knew early on that we were out at sea. We gave them our location, and yet no one tried to rescue us.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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You\u2019ve been in Germany for almost three years now. What is your life like today?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Karam<\/span>:<\/strong><\/span> Unfortunately, there\u2019s nothing positive about this life. I survived this journey, yes, but I\u2019m not safe. My asylum application was completely rejected a few months ago. And my wife and child are in Syria and aren\u2019t allowed to join me.<\/p>

Anwar:<\/strong><\/span> It was a shock to me. I expected something different. I thought I could rebuild my life. I don\u2019t understand the politics here. Why does Germany make it so hard for us? People are brought in from other countries to work here, even though we come from countries at war and could work too. I\u2019ve been here for almost three years now. I learned the language quickly so I could find work fast. I want to start my own business; everything is ready. But without a residence permit, nothing works. Everything depends on this little piece of plastic.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Are you the last one in your group who hasn\u2019t received a decision on your asylum application yet?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Anwar:<\/strong><\/span> I’m the last one, yeah. There’s still no answer. It feels like a dead end.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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And how about you, Firas? You\u2019ve been granted subsidiary protection. Do you feel safe?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Firas:<\/strong> <\/span>I\u2019d say, safety\u2014yes, I\u2019ve found that here in Germany. But I can\u2019t find peace. I was told I\u2019d have to wait a year or two, and then my family would be with me. That\u2019s why I came. But then family reunification was suspended. I haven\u2019t seen my wife and our children in three years. I can\u2019t wait any longer. What happened to me was terrible. If they were here, my life would be easier. I need someone by my side to comfort me. A year ago, I was given a kitten as a gift. I named her Zunbol. Zunbol is Arabic and means \u201cnew life.\u201d It is so good for me to have her. If family reunification isn\u2019t allowed again soon, I\u2019ll have to go back.<\/p>

Karam:<\/strong> <\/span>I feel the same way. All I want is to be able to start over with my family. When I left them, my son was one year old, he was just learning to walk. And now he\u2019s six. It makes me so sad that I can\u2019t be there to experience his childhood with him. But going back to Syria, after everything I\u2019ve been through, I just can\u2019t do that. The war in Syria may be over. But we\u2019re not safe there.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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What is your relationship with Germany and Europe like now?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Anwar:<\/strong> <\/span>That\u2019s hard to say. On the one hand, I\u2019ve met a lot of nice people, some really great supporters, and even some individuals at the social services office who are very kind. A few days ago, a man sat next to me on the train and said, \u201cYou\u2019re very welcome in Germany. You belong here, just as I belong here. This is your country, too. Get involved here.\u201d
But of course, I also feel the hatred from many people. Sometimes, when I read something on social media\u2014the comments, for example\u2014I think it would be better if I went back on my own rather than them sending me back.<\/p>

Karam:<\/strong> <\/span>We don\u2019t expect much at all, you know. We can take care of ourselves. I don\u2019t want to sit here and get welfare either. I can work. I want to work. If only they\u2019d let me.<\/p>

Firas:<\/strong> <\/span>I\u2019m really disappointed. I haven\u2019t found a single day of peace and quiet in Europe. Being here hasn\u2019t done me any good at all so far. So on the one hand, I\u2019m grateful because I was taken in. But I can\u2019t live without my family. The catastrophe we survived doesn\u2019t matter at all here. I would have expected that to be taken into account in the decisions made here in Germany. But it actually just makes everything even more complicated.<\/p>

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** Names of persons have been changed to protect safety and privacy.
<\/span><\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We spoke with three survivors who now live in Germany<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":16246,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[140,8,5,137,254],"tags":[348,18,302,322],"class_list":{"0":"post-27132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-deathatborder","8":"category-news-2","9":"category-publications","10":"category-topics","11":"category-violations-at-the-borders","12":"tag-348","13":"tag-featured","14":"tag-pylos","15":"tag-shipwreck"},"menu_order":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27132"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27146,"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27132\/revisions\/27146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}