Mapping the EU's Illegal Attacks on Migrants

Asylum seekers trying to cross the Aegean Sea into Greece are routinely being put in danger by the Hellenic Coastguard. Dingies being used by migrants may have their engines and / or fuel tanks removed, or may be forced to stop by dangerous maneuvers designed to create large waves.  Migrants who manage to land on Greek soil have been arrested and taken out to sea and abandoned on life rafts or dingies with no engines. Migrants have even been abandoned on uninhabitable rocks. These illegal actions taken to prevent asylum seekers from entering the EU has come to be known as 'drift-back'.

The Hellenic Coastguard deny using drift-back which is why the Safe Passage Foundation and Allianz Kulturstiftung have spent two years documenting evidence of drift-backs in the Aegean Sea. The interactive map Drift-backs in the Aegean Sea provides evidence of over 1,000 separate incidents of drift-back since Feb 2020.

The interactive map plots incidents which have been reported to the project by verified sources. The map also includes a timeline which allows you to browse the reported incidents by date as well as by location. If you select an incident's marker on the map you can read a verified account of the incident and click-through to check the sources for any of the reported incidents of drift-back.