Frontex says Greece ignored migrant boat help offer

The European Union's border agency Frontex said on Monday it had received "no response" when it offered aerial support to Greek authorities shortly before a migrant vessel capsized, leaving at least 82 dead.

The vessel sank off the Greek coast in mid-June, and hundreds were reported missing, casting a spotlight on authorities and whether they could have intervened to halt the disaster.

"Frontex offered additional aerial support to Greek authorities on 13 June but received no response," the Frontex press office told AFP by email.

It also added that Frontex offered to move forward a scheduled patrol, but Greek authorities asked it to instead attend a search and rescue operation off Crete.

Earlier that day, the Italian coordination center (MRCC) directed the Frontex plane to look for the fishing vessel with migrants on board at 0833 GMT, and the aircraft spotted it at 0947 GMT.

"The plane was monitoring the fishing vessel for 10 minutes before it had to return to base for refueling," Frontex said.

The trawler packed with migrants capsized in the Ionian Sea near Greece's Peloponnese peninsula on the night of June 13 after setting sail from Libya towards Europe.

"Hundreds" were reported missing, according to some of the 104 survivors.



AFP